A key to darkness
by The Swordslinger
Summary: After losing his life once, being reborn in a dark void could mean the end for him. Naruto didn't think someone would choose him for anything. Accepting the weight of his own darkness was the first step to reaching out for the truth. Being a king of darkness suddenly sounds good. Naruto x large harem. A slightly darker take on my A key chosen by darkness fic.
1. Dive into darkness

I OWN NOTHING

Someone came to me with this idea on a review of my fic "A key chosen by darkness", and while I tried to put it away, I decided to give it a try. Consider it a darker spin-off where he fully embraces darkness.

 **XXXXXX**

 **COULD**

 **IT**

 **BE**

 **YOU**

 **? ? ?**

 **THE**

 **ONE**

 **TO**

 **AID**

 **US**

 **? ? ?**

We find a young teenage boy about fourteen years old falling down an endless void. There was not even wind around him, yet his mop of spiky blonde hair and whisker birthmarks fluttered over his heavily eyelids closed, showing he was deep asleep. His clothes consisted on a pair of orange pants, a pair of blue shinobi sandals, and a matching jacket with a massive hole on the chest. However, no blood came from his wound.

He fell and fell for what seemed hours in this dream. Or, was it a dream? He didn't know, it was all too real. Thus he ended opening his eyes, landing safely in a circular crystal platform very well designed. Looking around himself at the endless darkness he felt slightly nervous as he had no idea of what had happened or where he was, only that this was scaring him to no end.

"What… happened?" he clutched his chest, feeling pain, "I… that battle at the valley, he…" his hands grabbed his head, gripping it while his eyes flashed with anger and pain, "He did it! He… but I tried to help him, I did everything I could so he didn't… Then why did I have to end like this?! Am I just a laughing stock?! Is this some sort of joke?! I won't accept it, I'll never accept it!"

As he screamed to the skies, his chest started to hurt more, making him fall to his knees. His anger, sorrow, despair, and confusion just made his pain and body heavier. Clenching his hands into fists, he punched the ground with enough force he was sure the glass would've broken. He was surprised when feeling pain. After quickly shaking his hand to get the numbness away, he stared at the platform he landed on.

It was a picture of his sleeping body, resting on a crescent moon. The platform was mostly a deep red similar to the fur of a fox he had seen, and kunais and shurikens decorated the place. But, most importantly, as he looked to his image's sleeping face, there were pictures of others. His sensei and teammates, but something was wrong. Their images were shattered, broken. He could understand one, but the other two being broken confused him.

And then, he heard her, a voice so melodious, young and pure that he felt two things he'd never imagine would come together: fear and joy, "Worry not." the voice spoke serenely all around him, while the owner was nowhere to be seen, "In this realm none shall harm you, but I fear you're too hurt to move forward. Tell me, and do not fear, what do you desire?"

Opening his mouth briefly to reply, he found himself confused when he closed it and looked at the platform again, seeing that underneath the crescent moon his body slept in was his village, "I… I wanted to be a leader many could look up to, so they stopped acting like I… like I should exist." He frowned, closing his eyes for a moment, "Who… Who are you? Am I… dead? Are you going to take me to the underworld?"

"No." was her simple reply, "It is my only wish to see why you haven't fallen to the darkness inside you. Betrayed, left to die, abandoned, exploited, and… alone. How is it that you keep moving?"

"I asked you a question." He shot back, clutching his chest when it hurt more, "What… What's this place and who are you? And… what's with this pain? It's like nothing I've ever felt before…"

"It is power, a power that you've tried to ignore and feared to embrace because of those that controlled your life, those that put you in their shadows, those that wouldn't allow you to be alive." He shivered, it was as if she were right behind him, whispering to his ear, "That is your power… A power I will grant you to fight those that could ever harm you and to protect yourself from them, if you promise me one thing."

Narrowing his eyes at the dark void around him, he spoke up, "What's the catch?"

She giggled, sending something beyond surreal yet pleasurable down his chest, "If you choose me, I ask that you protect my children and become their guardian, their champion, perhaps… Oh no, dear me, I am rushing things." She let out a soft chuckle, "I am beyond joyous to have you here, so forgive me for being too forward. But the truth is, I can't wait to see what you can do. After all, you've never given up and your heart still beats with a strange power."

He sat down, cross-legged and cross-armed, "You got to make your point, what am I even here for, and what makes me so damn special?"

"That heart of yours is what makes you special. The power it holds to fight with all your might even if it pains you is what drew me in, the hatred that you keep deep down to try to overcome called to me, and… the fact you desire to make power yours. I do not mean to take power, far from it. I'm talking about earning the right to be stronger than others. Add that to your determination, and… I feel my entire being… fluttering in excitement. How did you do this? How can you make me so… so…"

"You're starting to scare me…" he replied nervously, getting another giggle.

"I can't help it, you're perfect, and the fact that in your last moment, even when you were being killed by your so called ally, you held on to something you believed was right and didn't kill him. Unlike that boy, who just sees what is right in his face and went for an easy route, despite your rage, you still held on to your own heart instead of giving it up for power. You… are like me. Put in the shadows of those that take the light all for themselves. You truly are the guardian our kind needs."

Naruto lied flat on his back, staring at the empty blackness above him, a distant look in his eyes, "Am I really that strong?" he asked, feeling the pain in his chest grow slightly, "I couldn't beat Sasuke… After everything we went through… Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji... Sure, Neji and Kiba are jerks, and Shikamaru's a bum, but they didn't deserve to have their efforts spat on by him. Chouji and Lee are too damn good to be treated like dirt, and I…" he clenched his fists, "I had to leave them behind to save that moron! So tell me, why am I chosen when I couldn't beat him? What good is a guardian who can't beat an idiot?"

"Because we all can try again." Her voice made the pain in his chest go away, the sweet melody in his ears soothing his heart, as if hands were caressing it, "After all, I want to see you grow stronger with a second chance. So extend your hand to the skies, and let all those feelings, all the pain take form… What does your heart desire, Naruto?"

Extending his hand to the dark skies as she told him, he closed his eyes and tried to think on it, "I just… don't know…" he answered, "I want to be stronger, I want to have people recognize that I'm alive, that I'm not some mistake or monster, I want to stop feeling like I'm pathetic… But even if I say that, it doesn't even feel sincere anymore. Why? What's… happening to me?"

"You're not being true to yourself. There is someone inside you, your true self… Why don't you ask him what he wants?"

After saying those words, the pain in his chest increased until something burst out. Right there, before Naruto, was… another Naruto, "Heh… I don't know what this is, but damn does it feel good!" the copy said, dark red orbs staring at the blue-eyed blond surrounded by black sclera, "Why don't you stay there? I at least know what I really want, or are you really trying to ignore what they did to us?"

Naruto clenched his teeth, "What're you talking ab-" he jumped to his knees, crossing his arms in front of his face to stop a kick that made him skid back, "What the Hell's your problem?!"

The dark double chuckled, before sneering at him, "What do you think?! It's you, dammit! Look at yourself for once! Those morons that treated us like monsters get to live their happy life while we're left to rot so they can feel better! Get real!" he punched the blue-eyed kid, who stopped the strike by grabbing his copy's wrist and tried to punch him, only for the double to repeat the move, leaving them at a stalemate.

"Are you really going to bring that up?" Naruto growled lowly as they tried to push each other back.

His other smirked, "Damn right… Face it, I'm more you than you'll ever be. At least I act how I really feel, and pranks won't work." He chuckled again, "Nah, it'd never work. Those people will cry all they want about how one Naruto Uzumaki deserves to be in their shadows. Oh, big deal, they lost their families and loved ones… Well, we didn't even get to know ours! We were put in an orphanage filled with people who hated our guts and being a shinobi hasn't worked at all! To be a leader worthy of their respect?! Don't joke with me! From the very start they shouldn't have tried to act like they're in the right! I hate that b-"

Quickly using his head, literally, Naruto slammed his forehead on his double's face with a solid crunch, "Shut up!" he growled, finally snapping as the two brought up their fists, "If you're the real me, then I don't want to be some whinny version of Sasuke that complains about how his pain is all that matters!" he grabbed his head, ruffling his head in anger, "Argh! Is this what it's like to hear yourself talk?! Ugh! I feel sick to think I'm like this! Why do you have to complain so much about how life's unfair instead of doing something?! At least I tried to follow a path!"

"And look where it got you!" his copy roared before racing at him and punching Naruto in the face, who clenched his jaw and forced his body to remain up to swat aside the arm and return the punch. The dark-eyed blond didn't step back either.

"I know!" Naruto answered before both kicked each other on their sides, painfully crushing ribs.

"You haven't really acted either! Still a genin, still a loser to everyone, still not even second best to Sakura, and still in Sasuke's shadow!" the darker blond roared as he threw a right hook to the other's side.

"I told you I know!" the original boy answered before kicking his other self in the stomach, putting some distance between them as they panted tiredly.

"Then why don't you act?!" the dark one yelled as he raced at his other with a fist pulled back, which Naruto mimicked.

"Because…" Naruto started as they both stopped their charge mere inches from the other, their fists flying forward, "I don't want to let them win!"

"Wh-" the dark boy started, interrupted when Naruto punched him down on the floor, and behind them the cracks that covered the faces of his team were cracking even more.

Grabbing his counterpart's jacket by the lapels, Naruto stared at himself and spoke up, "I…" he started, closing his eyes as he himself couldn't believe what was happening, "I'm a sore loser, alright? To think I could go the easy route like Sasuke did when we fought him, to just try and act like feeling sad and angry should let me get away with anything, it's just crap. I don't owe anyone nothing, not to Sakura or Sasuke. I just did what I wanted to because I chose to. Hell, part of me just wanted to have the bastard thank me so I could rub it on his face. But acting like the moron that got us into this... After seeing that, I'd feel sick."

"What of the ones that really got us into this?" his double spat back, "You think we can all frolic around the fields of friendship hand in hand like idiots?"

Naruto paused before shaking his head, "No, but anything's better than acting like we have so far. Besides, do you really want to end up acting like those guys, treating anyone who's not like us as if they're dirt?"

"True…" his alter ego said as both decided to lie down, side by side, "You do know our life isn't really ours, right? Of course you do, I'm you. Those people… the way they acted is what made us who we are."

"Yeah, that's why I want to at least choose something for once in my life…" they stared at the darkness unblinking, "I do… I do want to make them pay, you know that, right?"

"Aye, you're me." his other self chuckled, "But going the easy route… I guess that's not us."

There was a pause, which Naruto broke before it got too long, "You know… Sorry… Whoever or whatever you are, you've been carrying all this for all my life, like I just threw all the trash I didn't want on your back."

"Hey, it's fine… It's the first time I feel real."

"Same."

The two smiled and Naruto closed his eyes before reaching out into the darkness. When he opened them, there was something in his hand and the voice returned, "Congratulations, Naruto. You've started to embrace your darkness. However, your weapon… Your mind and body have accepted this power, but your heart clings onto something. You are truly one of a kind."

Naruto whistled at the weapon in his hand. It was a broadsword about three-foot-long. It had a cylindrical purple handle, and a double-edged pitch black blade which was very, very sharp. However, it possessed no guard, just a red tear-shaped gem on the part where the handle was connected with the straight blade. And last but not least, it had a black chain on the pummel with something missing on the last link.

"Key… blade…" Naruto whispered with blank eyes, "Why does it feel so… comforting to hold this?"

"It is a weapon made of the power in your heart, the darkness inside you. But it is incomplete. How? Could something else reside in you besides your own darkness?"

"So I got to complete this sword." He said, brandishing with simple moves before staring around, and noticing that the platform was still cracking, "Uh… do you mind giving me a lift?!"

His words got him nothing to stop the platform from breaking as he fell down, though he got an answer, "Fear not, at the moment this is nothing but a bad dream…"

 **THIS**

 **POWER**

 **SHALL**

 **BE**

 **A**

 **NIGHTMARE**

 **TO**

 **THOSE**

 **THAT**

 **WRONGED**

 **YOU**

After opening his eyes without knowing when he closed them, Naruto found himself in the middle of a garden. Large bushes flanked him, beautiful flowers adorned the place, and he felt at ease. It was when he got up from the grass he rested on that he felt uncomfortably different. His sandals and pants were gone, replaced by black ballooning pants and a pair of purple steel greaves with a spike on each knee guard.

Getting up he stared at the rest of his body. Both hands were covered in steel gauntlets similar in design to his greaves only that they were black, and his torso was covered by a purple gi, complete with a black belt. In short, he looked like a mixture between a knight and a samurai, and while he was confused, he had to check something first. Upon looking at his bare chest, he frowned at the large scar the size of a fist on it.

"What happened to my clothes?!" he exclaimed in shock, scanning his body and new attire.

The voice answered him, "Your other clothes were too far gone, and I wouldn't want our champion to walk like a random rat in rags. I hope you like them, they're made of a special cloth that will allow you to resist powerful attacks from the elements, and the armor are perfect for blocking strikes and delivering them. For now, you should turn around, there's some things we need to find out."

He did as told and found some familiar things as he moved forward, mainly the buildings, but the sight of a massive red fox with nine tails put him on edge, "Kyuubi… Was this all your doing?! Did you put me in an illusion?!" he asked the towering beast, but got no response, which angered him as the tailed creature moved closer to him, "Answer me, you damn fox!"

Once again, he was answered in ways he didn't expect, "What is it you fear most?" the red-furred demon asked him.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused as he looked around for answers.

"What is it you fear most?" and after the fox repeated his question, someone appeared in the blink of an eye, standing before him.

It was impossible to miss who it was, a small, and rather old man with a goatee, a balding head, and white robes with the Hokage hat appeared, "What is it you fear most?" he asked.

"I see…" he said, looking around as he slowly comprehended more of what he was seeing, "Seeing as you won't let me out that easy… I guess I hate feeling weak, to be unable to do a thing… I fear being… powerless."

"What's most important to you?" the next apparition was one from the history books, with a wild mop of spiky blond hair, blue eyes matching his, and a Jounin outfit with a stylish white cloak and Hokage hat.

Putting his hand on his chin, rubbing it with his thumb and index finger, he took a moment to think, "Showing everyone I'm not a waste of life…" he growled the last part, the way the whispers and stares made him feel in the past were resurfacing.

"What do you want out of life?" the fox asked, looming over him.

"I'm not even sure at this point."

"You fear being unable to change your fate, you cherish making your existence feel worthwhile, and your future is now uncertain…" it was the same voice that greeted him, "The weapon you obtained shall let you carve your own path, make your own choices. It is born from your heart's true form for that very reason, and it shall be the only way you'll be able to fight against those that gave you a life that wasn't yours."

In the blink of an eye he was back on another platform surrounded by nothing but darkness. However, he could see himself in the picture, only that he was clad in the clothes he wore, the red surrounding him had been turned into black, and there was a large emblem on the background. Despite his body still resting on a crescent moon with his hand clutching the incomplete sword he was given, he took notice of the image of a shattered heart that covered as much space as possible.

He also heard the sound of someone wobbling behind him, the sound of uneven steps, "Who's there?" he asked and was face to face with… quite an odd and adorable sight. It was a being with a body darker than a shadow and about half his size, with large bunny feet, antennae, a round head, and glowing yellow eyes. No other features could be seen.

"The only way for you to grow stronger is to face your fear and stand above it…" the melodious voice answered, "You'll find many enemies in your path, people you'll face to become more powerful. This one here is a temporary one, only here to aid you by testing your strength."

The beetle-like imp jumped at him, claws ready for action. Being a shinobi that took his training in hand to hand combat as seriously as he could, he had no trouble ducking under its swipe and slashing it with his blade. The little critter hit the ground and its small body vanished. Wisps of darkness akin to smoke flew from its disappearing carcass… into the dark sword he held. With wide eyes he felt it, something surging deep inside him, and there was an odd sense of peace. He felt at ease, like a pain in him was melting away.

"What kind of sword is this?" he asked in surprise, staring at the incomplete blade.

His chatty companion giggled, "A weapon made to grant you the strength of those that fall before it. Use it wisely, for there are many that deserve to be slain by it. I, however, desire to see what you do with it. Your hand was steady to face a foe you thought… No, dare I say it, you knew there was no other way around it. Was it instinct? Whatever happened there, you understood you had to defeat it. And yet something deeper than your nature keeps you from succumbing to what created true monsters."

He nodded while taking it all in, trying to comprehend what was in his hands, "It's a good thing that creep Orochimaru doesn't have one of these." He took a few experimental swings at the air before hearing yet again another set of feet behind him. Turning around he was face to face with more imps, all jumping at him. With a mere dash and three wild swings at speeds the shadow beings never saw coming, Naruto felt their strength and life enter his sword, becoming his.

"That rotten seeker of useless power is nothing compared to what you can become." She told him, surprising him at how it sounded like something other evil shinobi would say, "He took so many lives, created many children that lived in shadows, and dared ruin your life in more ways than one. And yet, he isn't the one that harmed you the most."

Another imp appeared, only to be replaced by someone else with a dark wave of energy, revealing the Uchiha that tried to kill him, "Who… is he?" he asked, unsure of who the spiky haired male Uchiha was.

"He has many masks, yet is a peon for another crueler man, who himself is a puppet of a mad woman's schemes…" the voice explained, "They all use others for their gain, even you. You could ask your prisoner, the one those that shunned you mistook you for, who this man is. After all… they were the ones that stole you of a chance to ever seeing your parents, a chance to be loved, a chance to choose your very life."

Naruto's face was frozen into confusion at what he first heard, but as the voice kept explaining the truth behind it all, he changed his expression into shock, which soon became a rage that burned hotter and hotter. Soon enough, the landscape changed into a miserable sewer with water up to his ankles, and a single massive cell before him. It was a familiar sight, but changes were made to his last stay. A single paper that kept the gate shut was gone, the door was opened, and the prisoner didn't dare to escape.

"Are you…?" he asked lowly, looking around, "The one that helped me all this time, was it you… Kyuubi? Did I break your seal and-"

"I'm afraid that you're mistaken." he shuddered when feeling a warm breath nearly flicking his ear with the sweet voice accompanying it, "But I know the stories your people have about foxes. How did you picture me in your mind?"

Bright red whiskered cheeks answered her, making her giggle and him change subjects, "Wait a second, what's happened to the fox?! Did you do this?"

"Oh dear, this won't be easy to explain…" she sighed, and he felt a near ghostly touch on his chest when she spoke, "In that battle, you did not survive. Fear not, as I stated, you aren't dead. However, you technically were for some time. Your prisoner and you wouldn't have survived such wound and to stay in a dying body, which is why I brought you here. How does your body feel now? Oh, and sorry about the scar, I did my best to heal such a mortal wound in what little time I had."

He patted his scarred chest and exhaled a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, "You did a great job." He flexed his shoulders, "Actually, I've never felt this good, like I've gone to some heavenly hot springs."

"I am pleased to hear that, but I'm sure you've noticed that your fox isn't here." He nodded, "A being like him, a body of pure utter hatred, couldn't last long in this realm. I shall keep him safe if you so desire."

He was at a loss, putting his hand on his chin, "You said he knew who ruined my life, but you also know who that person is…" he tried to think more on it, "That fox just… appeared out of nowhere and wrecked the village. But the way you say things is like…" he looked at the cage, "Was he… Was the Kyuubi also tricked by this guy?"

"It took you some time, but you figured it out. Yes, indeed, this man knows no limits, and in his search for power, for darkness to eclipse the life of others, he used the fox and killed both your parents. And while he failed to accomplish his initial goal, his actions gave the other two puppeteers enough possibilities to plan ahead. And thus, here you are."

He growled and stepped into the cage, "Then let me see the fox, I want to know what he did and who did it!" he walked in deeper, unafraid of the dark, "Hey you oversized fur-ball, talk to me!"

"You… little… bitch!" the roar was from no one else but the fox, whose claws could still crush Naruto with one finger.

Said boy moved up his sword and, surprising even himself, parried the attack and kept the massive red furry claw from reaching him, "Missed you too, fluffy." He spat back while he and a twenty story tall fox struggled in a stalemate.

"How're you that strong?! Was it her doing?! Was it the bitch that put me in here?!" he exclaimed with a grunt between each pause, shocked to see the small kid keeping him at bay, "What has she done to me?! No, what has she done to you?! You were never this strong, and I was never this weak, how-"

"Stop yapping and start making sense!" Naruto snapped before pushing aside the claw and aiming his sword at the fox, no longer afraid of it, "Who used you?!"

"What are you…"

"When I was born, who used you to destroy the village?!"

The fox grew angrier, "Why do you care now? Is it because of that little bitch that has done this to me?!" From the shadows the fox appeared, with a massive collar on his neck that chained him to the floor, while matching shackles kept its legs in place. Naruto took a couple steps back, and the claw was unable to reach him.

Perhaps in another moment he'd have smiled and mocked him, but then and there he had a lot in his mind, "I guess I owe her a thank you." He looked at the fox in his eyes and sat down in the lotus position, "Listen, I got no idea what's going on and I bet neither do you, but there's someone that used us…" he growled as he remembered the face, that of an Uchiha but with horrible scars, "Whoever that guy is, he deserves to die, I got no doubt about it. But here we are, stuck until we figure how the girl that got us in here will let us out."

The Kyuubi stared at him, curious, "You want to kill him?"

Naruto balled his hands into fists, and he could feel something deep beneath his scar rising, and the fox could see a dark aura flare around him, "All he did… it has no excuse. You, me, everyone that lost someone… He made it happen. Though killing him may be too nice. I want to make sure he never makes anyone suffer like we did, and I want him to regret it until the end of time. If I killed him, that'd be it, it's like having him escape free of paying for what he did."

Chuckling, the fox smirked, "So, you really want to make him pay. Not with a quick or even a slow death, but just make sure every moment of his existence makes him regret it all… Now you're talking."

The voice finally spoke, "Spoken like a true king, seeking justice for those that suffer at the hands of the ones that take, justifying what they do to feel no guilt while casting many like us into their shadows."

"Is this what you wanted me for?" he asked while he and the fox looked around.

"I do wish to see you become a champion for us, even your friend whose hatred makes this place consume him. What say you, fox? Do you want to be absorbed by this place or work with someone that was as much of a prisoner as you were?" the fox snorted, he could see whoever was talking to him smiling condescendingly.

"Not like I have a choice."

"Good. Your pride doesn't need to sting, though. I will give you the right to earn your power if you protect Naruto. As time progresses, I shall see if you're really trustworthy."

That enraged the beast, "What're you talking about?! I already agreed to-"

"Agreeing doesn't mean loyalty." She cut him off, "I can see in your eyes a hate so deep it'd blind you to anything. Should you find anyone that angers you there'd be a problem. In order to keep you from endangering the one person that I kept you alive for, I need to make sure your own personal vendettas won't get in his way. After all, there are far more like you that deserve a good champion, one who doesn't have to worry about a pet barking at the wrong tree."

Naruto started to snicker while the fox growled deeply, "I don't know who you are, sis, but you're the best girl I've ever met to make big old fuzzy this angry without even trying."

A giggle escaped her, "Oh my, please keep those words to yourself… I may be… Oh dear me, forget I talked…" she giggled again, albeit nervously, before explaining herself, "What say you? Are you ready to start? I do recommend you gain more power, for in your current state you couldn't measure to the ones controlling everything. And even they are not your worst threat."

He nodded, "So you're saying I should train. Sounds simple enough."

"No, I'm saying you should try and choose what places to gain power from." She elaborated, "There are many worlds out there, many which you could never have imagined. Deep inside them there are countless strong warriors that would pose the perfect challenge for you to grow stronger. If you wish to go, just focus your mind and heart on what you desire, and I shall take you there. After your new friend talks."

The fox snorted but didn't dare show another sigh of discontent least he anger her, "Where do I start?"

"The guy was an Uchiha, no doubt about it." Naruto started, "Do you know who it was?"

"The name Madara Uchiha ring any bells?" the boy shook his head, making the fox sigh, "He's an asshole, plain and simple. The reason the Uchiha clan is as messed up as it is can be linked to him. However, the guy's been raising maggots for years, dead as shit. Who I saw, though, was like a double yet not quite. They knew too much about me and other matters."

"His name was Obito Uchiha." The voice said, shocking the fox and confusing Naruto, "A puppet of a puppet, and one that hated the fabled savior of that village of yours."

"That brat?! He was the Fourth's dead student, how'd he survive?!"

"It was Madara, but I'm glad to see you told Naruto at least one truth, fox." The voice answered him.

"That bastard… now it all makes sense. Give him enough time and he'd have the brat working for him…" he turned to Naruto, who was stunned beyond words at what he had heard. "You may not know it, but that Obito betrayed not only his own village, but those that loved him by doing what he did. If you wish to make him pay, he needs something worse than death."

"Indeed, but for now, we need to move forward." The voice said before the towering beast disappeared.

"Wait, I have a lot more to ask him!" the blond shouted, trying to reach out to anything.

"Be patient, I am sure the story was big on you." He glared at the dark void, "Fear and worry not, I promise to let you know more as you go on. Telling you all the details would mean changing everything you know, and the power I bestowed on you is linked to your heart. You need to take this in slowly, or that anger you feel inside you will grow and devour you. Think on it, if you lost yourself to anger you could end as those Shadows you took out."

He groaned but nodded, "I guess I can trust you." His palm went to his chest, "I feel it deep in me, when I killed them I felt great their power in me. And to hear of this, what that guy did and knowing he betrayed others makes me feel sick, though something in me feels stronger. I need to know what this is. What am I supposed to do?"

"I told you, didn't I?" her voice echoed as darkness surrounded him, "I'm the one to bestow you the power of those cast in the shadows of the ones that take the light all for themselves. This is the power of true darkness, and my only wish is to see you become someone who can protect us from the light seekers that took everything from us."

He nodded, remembering Obito's face and feeling the anger grow in him, "And I will make them pay, they will regret it without a death to escape it."

She giggled, "Good. You will meet a fine warrior in the world I'm sending you two. She is one like you, a puppet of a cruel fate set by cruel people. However, she's become her own worst enemy because of it. Find her, earn her trust, and show her why I found this great potential in you to lead us."

 **AND**

 **SOON**

 **YOU**

 **WILL**

 **OPEN**

 **THE**

 **GATES**

 **FOR**

 **OUR**

 **FREEDOM**

 **XXXXXX**

And that's my rap!

This is a prologue to a darker take on my other Kingdom Hearts fic. Naruto here will listen more to his darker side and will be guided by a mysterious figure to become a truly dark king.

However, I'm not going to go the ways of other evil Naruto stories. He does have reasons to be angry and want to see people burn at the stake – the Uchiha clan, for starters – but he seeks some form of dark justice.

I'm not talking deaths that let the villain go into the afterlife quickly, I'm talking a fitting punishment for really cruel bastards.

How? Well, thank Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4; Diamond is Unbreakable for showing us good ideas on what a fate worse than death can be for real, irredeemable scumbags.

Also, I'll keep the voice's real identity a secret here. You can try and guess who it is if you've read my previous fic, but I'll try to have it a secret for longer for anyone who doesn't want spoilers.

Swordslinger out!


	2. Beasts and demons

I OWN NOTHING

Here's Naruto's first party member, and it's a familiar face from my other fic taking a different role by being in his party this time.

 **XXXXXX**

 **WAKE**

 **UP**

 **AND**

 **SHOW**

 **THE**

 **UNWORTHY**

 **REAL**

 **POWER**

Drops of water falling on stone, that's what woke him up. With a gasp from cold, the boy looked around as dark clouds covered the skies, the rain soaking his body and making his spiky hair cling to his scalp. Grunting at the cold shower type awakening, he looked for the nearest shelter. He didn't have to look for long and was quickly whistling at the sight before him, a massive castle that easily dwarfed the Hokage's building.

To say it was big was selling it short, "This place's as big as a village, who could live in it? Who could even afford to... pay-choo!" after a quick sneeze he ignored his curiosity and made a beeline straight for the entrance.

After opening and closing the doors quickly to get out of the rain, he looked at the interior. Massive pillars, an expensive red carpet leading to some stairs that split in two in order to go to the west and east wings, and a large pair of doors right in front of him. It was all lost on him when he heard the sound of fire nearby and he went to it right away. A simple opened door later and he was in a library with a large couch set by a fire. Smiling at the sight he stood by the flames to dry himself before looking at his reflection on a mirror.

Seeing his hair practically glued to his skull due to the rain made him groan, so he pulled it back to at least return some of its usual spikiness. The result was simple but effective, a rather feathery hairdo with all of the spiky strands of hair pointing backwards. Not a bad look if he said so himself. Pleased with it he decided to sit down and relax while letting the warmth of the room do its job to dry his outfit. The couch tempted him to sit down, and he was unable to decline.

"This place is dark, cold, and looks really expensive." Naruto muttered as he got up and explored around, having grown bored. It was just as dark and spooky as he had thought, the perpetual night gloom would make anyone feel a little intimidated.

As he explored around, he stopped when he saw a candle light illuminate a doorway, calling out to the light he asked, "Excuse me! Can you tell me where you I am?" He called out, the light moving towards him and revealing a young woman roughly a year or two older than him.

She was extremely pretty, and her look of innocence and intelligence enthralled him. She was holding a candelabra in her right hand, and a book in the left. Her brown hair reached below her shoulders, kept in place at the back of her neck with a blue ribbon. Her clothes consisted of a simple blue dress with a white blouse underneath and a white apron. Her tall figure and curves that make him stare more than he wanted to.

"Oh, you don't look like the thief I expected to find." She said bluntly.

He frowned, "Hey, what do you mean thief? I just wanted to get here to stay warm."

She shook her head before looking around, "Listen, if you aren't then it's another reason to leave. The owner of this castle isn't very friendly towards strangers after someone entered a very special room of his."

"Listen lady, I can tell you're nice but I'm lost and I got no idea what's going on with my life." He was tired after everything he went through, "Just let me dry off and wait for the rain to stop, then I'll leave."

Growing alarmed, she grabbed his hand to try to pull him away, "No, you don't understand. You're lucky no one has seen you, so please listen to me and get-"

"Wait, why're you so afraid of?" he asked while getting his hand out of her grip, "What's got you so spooked? Is it the owner of this place?" Glancing at her, he knew he hit the nail when her expression changed, "If it is him, what's he doing to you? Come on, if he keeps you shackled here, maybe I can teach him a couple of things about manners."

"It's no-"

Roaring interrupted her, "Belle!" a deep, animalistic male voice echoed in the castle's walls, "Where are you?!"

The brunette, Belle, turned to Naruto with pleading eyes, "Walk away now, please! Should Beast find you he won't ever let you get out of his castle."

That made Naruto's blood boil, "Then let me find him! Who does he think he is?!"

Biting her lower lip, she felt her patience thinning, "He's… complicated. Just go, please! I'm staying here for my father's sake, but you shouldn't be locked here for-"

A loud bang signaled that the door was opened, and in walked what one could best describe as a beast. Brown fur covered a towering, muscular body. Paws replaced feet, sharp black nails made long-fingered hands deadly, and two horns on the creature's head made it even more intimidating. A large row of sharp teeth was set in a snarl as he approached Belle, his body hunched yet still towering over her, while deep blue eyes stared right into hers.

"Belle!" he roared and the girl stepped up to try to block the boy from his view, "You…"

"Beast, I've been looking for clues of the thief, but-" she tried to say until Beast interrupted her by grabbing her wrists, not knowing the blond was on the ceiling, his feet glued to it and his sword ready.

And then, when he was ready to strike, "Don't you worry me like that again." He growled, surprising Naruto as he held the girl's hands, "The others have seen walls broken by force, so whoever's breaking in is a dangerous person. I want you to go to your room, lock it, and never let anyone in unless you know it's them."

Shocked didn't begin to describe how Naruto felt watching the scene, even more as she pouted, "And stay on a single place where this intruder could come and perhaps use me to get an advantage? Beast, you know this person has to be smart, and at least I can fool them around since I know the castle like the palm of my hand by now. It's also better to move around since that way they won't be able to find me in one place or plan a trap to get me."

"But they still could-" he roared, but she silenced him.

"I know you care enough to fight savage wolves to keep me safe, but let me feel useful. I've been locked here for too long. Please, I won't be dumb again and will immediately get help if I get in over my head."

"NO! Absolutely not! I will not allow you to be harmed by these monsters!" He gave her plea the consideration he thought it deserved, exactly a few seconds before he furiously whirled around and grabbed her arm with one claw. Not so much pulling or dragging as forcefully leading her back to her room.

"Beast, please calm down!" she cried, but he ignored her when an enemy appeared.

A gargoyle statue came to life and became a horrific creature with glowing yellow eyes, a strange red and black heart like symbol on its chest, and a purple and black body. With a furious slam of his fist, Beast crushed the monster completely, making Belle gasp as it disappeared into a black poof of darkness.

"Look for yourself Belle! These creatures are everywhere in my home! The safest place for you, is within your room, where I know where you are! Where if trouble happens I can protect you. Stay there, and until these monsters are banished from our home, you will take your meals there. I will have the servants bring you books from the library. And you may leave to use the bathroom quarters under the guard of the maids. That IS an order! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

He roared at her, making Belle tremble briefly, a tear going down her face and making him look horrified. "Crystal… clear." She whispered out, running into her room and then shutting the door in his face.

In her wake, Beast grabbed his head with his claws, gritting his fangs sharply. "Damn… DAMN! DAMN! Belle! I'm sorry!" He didn't hear her answer, only her crying. "Damn…" He continued cursing unhappily as he walked away to his private room, to take his fury out on it.

Unknown to him, someone was watching him, walking on the ceiling, "Glad you're feeling sorry." Naruto whispered to himself, glaring at the furry master of the castle before pondering, "Now… That voice said I'd find a warrior of great strength, but it can't be him or Bell. Is there someone at this castle that'd fit the bill? Who could it be?"

He looked around for an answer, but found nothing. Without the voice to guide him, he moved forward and followed the furry creature while sticking to the shadows, observing his moves. Soon Beast walked into a dark wing. The walls were made of stone brick, light was gone from the place, and most decorations were broken. After seeing what the horned being did to a gargoyle he remained on the ceiling, away from them.

Keeping close to him, the boy couldn't help but glare at his back. The way he yelled at that girl, how he forced her to be locked away, and feeling sorry only after doing the damage made something deep in him grow. It was unpleasant, but at the same time accepting it made him feel better. He was angry, there was no other way around it, and embracing his anger instead of bottling it down felt almost… invigorating.

And then, Beast opened a door into a bizarre room, "Good, it's still here…" Everything was destroyed, furniture, paintings, and walls had claw marks or had been smashed to pieces. However, a single wooden table remained, and on it was a glowing rose inside a crystal container. Looking at it, the boy could tell it had some importance to Beast, but was confused about what it could be.

Approaching the creature would be dangerous as he would fight back, though Naruto felt tempted to do so. Beating him for treating Belle like he owned her and only showing remorse when it was too late. Such things had happened to the boy, and they made him even angrier the more he looked at Beast. Whatever happened to him to make him how he was could be a good reason to his behavior, but not to such extent.

Deep down, he knew what he wanted, "So you hurt her because of that flower?" Beast turned around, his initial shock replaced by anger.

"Who're you?! Have you come to take this from me?!" he roared at the blond.

Naruto cracked his neck with a hand, his other holding his incomplete sword tightly, "I'm not a thief, I'm someone who met Belle before." He told Beast firmly, glaring at him while the large creature hunched over, ready to lunge at him, "And seeing you only feeling sorry after treating her like she's your pet makes me want to give you a piece of my mind."

"How dare you…" the ferocious castle owner growled deeply.

The boy's stare didn't fall, "I just want to talk. If that rose is so important, then I can help you find this thief so you stop treating Belle like-"

"You got no right to be here and speak her name, thief!" Beast interrupted him with a roar, his chest expanding and contracting rapidly as his feral anger grew, "Get out… Get out…! Get out!" And he charged at Naruto, who took a step forward and blocked a claw swipe with a hand, before swiftly slamming his other on Beast's face, using the Keyblade's pummel to make him reel back with a sore nose.

"I'm trying to be reasonable, and I'm just looking for someone in this castle, not a flower." Naruto replied firmly, glaring at the owner of the castle as he stepped back, holding his nose.

Beast lost it, "I don't want to hear anymore from you, so get out!"

Naruto snapped back, "You think you can tell people what to do like you own them? Don't expect for a second that I'll regret what I'm about to do! If you want to get angry with someone, try and pick and fight with someone on your league!"

Beast growled and sneered at the blond, before clutching his chest, "What… What is this I'm feeling?" he asked himself, before redirecting his anger towards the blond, "Just being near you I feel my anger grow, like when I tear apart those shadows… Who… what are you?"

"At this point, I'm not even sure I knew who or what I was before this day." He aimed his sword at Beast, "But I know I've got a lot of anger in me, so this is my one and only warning if you really feel anything good for Belle: don't make me take it out on you. As much as I hate what you did, if she cares for you and you care for her, I don't want to make her cry by beating you to a pulp."

Beast growled, "You think you can threaten me…? Me?!"

Giving him one final glance, Naruto lowered his head and twirled his sword in his hand, holding it in an inverted grip like it was a kunai. Beast charged at him, moving his claws up to intimidate him and strike him at the same time. Seeing this, the blond jumped over his head and slashed his back, cutting the purple cape and making Beast stumble and fall on his face. To Naruto, an experienced if still wet-eared shinobi, a slow fighter that relied on strength rather than skill was easy to read. His only really good attribute in the academy was taijutsu, after all.

"Again?" he asked Beast while he remained on the floor.

His only answer was a deafening roar that echoed through the entire castle while Beast shrugged off the wound, shocking the boy. In a split second, the wild fighter spun around, extending an arm to backhand him. Reacting in time, Naruto brought up his blade to block the strike to try to overpower him. He thought the wound on Beast's back would make it hard for him to fight back and that he'd be easily pushed back. The one that was pushed back was the boy, whose smaller, far lighter body was off its feet in a second.

Upon impacting a wall with his back, the boy groaned to himself but sucked up the pain, knowing that Beast would charge right at him. He didn't think the creature that relied more on instinct and rage could move like that with such a wound, yet his rage was letting him ignore the pain along an insane amount of adrenaline in his body. Beast was right on top of him, both hands up like hammers to slam into the blond. He brought them down and Naruto saw it in a split second. The guy was lost in his rage, he wouldn't stop after hitting him once.

Too bad for Beast that Naruto still had his tricks. It took the larger fighter to identify what he had really hit, a table that was already broken. He blinked in shock, trying to figure out what had happened when he was sure he felt the boy's ribs crack… or had it been the wood under his hands. Whatever it was, he was brought back to reality at the sound of someone charging at him from behind. He turned and regretted it.

"You-" was all he got out before Naruto slashed his chest twice, letting him fall on his knees to clutch his wounds.

Panting, the boy spoke back, "That's for throwing me against the wall. Now, do you want to calm down? The wounds I gave you aren't deep, but they'll sting. At most you'll get scars."

Beast growled, but stopped when seeing the tip of the sword inches from his face, "What do you want to take from me? Haven't you done enough already? What else do you want?!"

That was a bad answer, and Naruto did something but surprising and… Naruto-ish. He grabbed the guy's ear, yanked him to his face, and yelled at him, "Will you calm down?! I don't want a stupid rose or anything from you! I'm just mad that you hurt Belle because of some stupid decoration!" he pushed Beast back and returned to keeping him down with his blade at his face, "Listen up, I'm just looking for someone."

"Who could that be, I wonder." Said a new voice.

A shadow, the sound of glass shattering and no sign of the rose. Beast gasped in shock and shoved the equally surprised Naruto aside to stare at the empty table that once had his precious rose. Beside it was a large glass window with a big hole on it. The night's wind and some of the rain fell into the room, and a flash of lightning made Beast's shadow even more monstrous as he gave the loudest roar of that night.

He turned to Naruto, who knew where this was going, "You… You did this! You're a thief, you and whoever took my rose! You'll take me to them after I break your every bone!"

"I stole nothing you violent bastard! Why not ask yourself who'd want a crummy rose you're so protective over you'll do anything to keep Belle from seeing it?!" Naruto accused him, making Beast roar right back.

"THAT ROSE IS THE ONLY THING IN THIS CASTLE THAT CAN SAVE ME AND MY SERVANTS!" Running on all fours, the Beast slammed both fists down on where Naruto was. Dodge rolling back, Naruto held out his Keyblade as he dashed to the side, seemingly flashing from point to point while keeping a healthy distance away.

Lifting his weapon, he glared at Beast, "Can you just listen to me?!"

"STAND STILL!" Beast pivoted on a dime, slamming one arm down where Naruto was again.

The blond haired teen merely rolled over his back, kicking him in it for good measure, "And let you get a good hit on me?! I'm not an idiot!" The blond taunted him, dashing back while Beast rushed him down, with the dark light of murder in his eyes.

"WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE ME?! BELLE IS-!"

Naruto kicked him on his face, one hand on Beast's head before the teen acrobatically flipped over him then slammed down his Keyblade onto his back, making him painfully hit the floor, "She's not your prisoner or servant!" he snapped before walking to him, eyes dead serious, "You keep her locked up for protection, but did you ever think about what she wants? Maybe she'd feel safer if you were at her side all the time. Or maybe she'd feel safer if you lit some torches in this place. Hell, she might find the library safest of all. At least books aren't going to yell at her like you do!"

As Naruto accused him, Beast clenched his claws tightly with every harsh word and question. What stung at his pride the most though, was the insidious thought that Naruto was right, and that he was doing nothing but making Belle unhappy. However, as the words hurt him, his pride wouldn't let the boy get the best of him, not like that. His own anger overcame his shame and that caused another mistake.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW!? YOU'RE AN OUTSIDER! AN OFF-WORLDER!" The Beast was no fool, the stink of other worlds was on Naruto's flesh, and thus he howled the truth of Naruto's existence.

The blond stopped talking, his hair shadowing his eyes, before he furiously declared to the Beast, "I don't know a lot about anything! But I know one thing for sure! You're not protecting Belle, you're stifling her! You're hurting her! And I've never been able to stop myself from getting angry when I heard anyone, especially someone as kind and pretty as she is, cry because of bastards like you!"

Just as he prepared to really go to town, the door was slammed open, making both of them whirl around to see Belle panting softly from the exertion of having to run all the way to the room, "Enough! Stop it you two! I'm not a prize to be won or something that needs defending!" She told them off, stomping into the room with her hair all out of shape, strands over her face before she gently combed them back.

The boy didn't look ashamed or sorry, "It's not like he didn't deserve it..." he muttered, and she heard him.

"Naruto!" she exclaimed, "I thought better of you than to just fight Beast like that! Honestly, you seemed so nice when we talked! Why would you even think that stooping to Beast's level was a smart idea?!" She chided him, looking positively angry but he did not shrink beneath her words.

"Hey, I didn't come here to fight him anyway. He attacked me to begin with after I offered him some help to find the rose and maybe find who I'm looking for. I just defended myself. I really just to find out who stole the rose to calm him down." He told the beast and beauty, holding out his hands to show he wasn't responsible before staring at the broken window behind them.

"Beast… is that true?" Belle stopped her admonishment of Naruto, her head slowly turning to the now sheepish looking Beast.

He didn't even know where to start, "Well I…"

"You let your temper fly off the handle again! For the love of heaven, why do you always get so angry before anyone has a chance to explain anything?!" She turned on Beast now, while Naruto hid a smirk at his opponent's expense.

A sadistic chuckle softly lilted through the storm behind him, making his eyes wide, two glowing red eyes staring down at him from a massive shadow. "You!" He whirled around, Beast doing the same as two immense bat wings spread behind the figure.

Clutched in its claws was the rose itself, making Beast roar with a thousand times his original rage. "Thief! Give it back!"

He leaped through the window, an unwise decision in retrospect as he landed, slipped, and then had to dig his claws into the rain-soaked tiles of the battlements. Unable to chase the airborne thief who flew away on their wings, he heard their mocking chuckle taunt him. With rage burning hot, he was helpless to move and chase an opponent so skilled in the air with the footing so poor.

Without hesitation Naruto leaped after the Beast, calmly walking on the slick tiles without a problem, his Keyblade hefted over his shoulder, "I'll handle this thief and get back your rose too. You just protect Belle and when I bring it back, tell me why it and she are so damn important to you. If I don't like your answer… I'm finishing our fight so I can get a better one." He warned Beast before he dashed over the rain soaked roof, chasing after the airborne thief who let loose a loud whooping shriek.

Chasing the thief over battlement, roof, and tile, Naruto found himself having to hit the brakes hard as he was right in front of the space leading down to the moat far below, and the abyss below that. That whooping shriek made him look up, rain splashing against his hair and face, as the figure silently hovered in the air above him. It was alive, that was for certain, when he saw an amused smile before the creature landed on a tower not far from him, which allowed the thief to literally look down on him.

Said creature in question was a gorgeous yet terrifying looking woman with dark bluish skin, and what looked like a leathery cape of the same color as her skin. She had rags worn over her surprisingly mature body, barely hiding her feminine nature around her generous bosom. Her waist only had a loincloth that showed child bearing hips and a reptilian blue tail on the back. Her head had a long mane of red hair that flowed like fire down her back, as well as a jeweled armlet over one arm.

She turned around to stare at the boy, who glared at her while she cradled the rose in its crystal recipient in her arms. He didn't know what to make of her, but noticing the clawed hands and talons she had for feet he could guess she knew how to fight close and personal, which was his specialty. All in all, he kept a tight grip on his sword and started to move in circles around her at a certain distance.

"I came here looking into other worlds for magical artifacts that would help me get rid of my own problems, and what do I find?" her smile turned into a sneer, "A small boy holding one of those wretched weapons of the light. And not only is it incomplete, but you dare come to attack me with such a pathetic half-excuse of a Keyblade?"

 **YOU**

 **SHALL**

 **STAND**

 **AS**

 **A**

 **TRUE**

 **RULER**

 **! ! !**

 **SHOW**

 **HER**

 **WHY**

 **! ! !**

Almost as if listening to the voice, Naruto took a hunched over stance with the Keyblade at his side and his eyes on the redhead gargoyle, and smirked smugly at her, "If you think that's what'll hurt your pride, think on what it'll be like when I take you down."

She jumped at him, opening her "cape" to reveal that what he thought was an accessory were actual bat wings. He cursed when she was right in front of him faster than he had seen others sans Rock Lee move. Moving up his sword, he blocked her tough claws and felt the ground sink under his feet. While close to her, he could see she had nothing but hate in her eyes, and it felt too familiar. That sense of familiarity brought bile up to his throat at the memory, so he kicked her on the side, moving her aside before jumping off the collapsing roof.

Watching her move was like watching a more animalistic fighter than Beast, but one far more intelligent and controlled. The gargoyle landed on all fours, skidding to a stop while leaving claw marks on the tiles. And seeing him she hissed at him, her eyes glowing red once again. Naruto took his stance once again and charged at her, body bent forward and his sword at his side, the tip back. He had never been thought how to use a sword, but he was at least taught how to use kunai for defense and offense, and he was a crafty little bastard.

Finding out your opponent is as crafty, though, puts you in danger. The female gargoyle shrieked at him like a furious animal and threw one of her wings at him. Reacting on instinct, he stopped his charge and moved back while the membrane merely rubbed one of his cheeks and obscured his vision. Suddenly, he realized what she had done, she had blinded him. Unable to do more, he acted before thinking with his mind and body as one. After training and fighting way more experienced fighters, mainly Zabuza, he had some ideas of what to do.

Upon lowering her wing, she was shocked to find him jumping up with his sword still behind him. Quickly getting over the initial surprise, she continued her attack, but there was one problem, he had reacted faster. Clashing steel against claws, both fighters glared at each other while the gargoyle felt the ground crack under her. She was about to glide away, but she had underestimated the kid's skills once, and did so again. It was a fraction of a second, but Naruto changed his entire momentum, spun his body midair, and brought his left knee down on her.

This time, the roof caved in and the gargoyle fell from the force after their initial crash broke it. He watched her fall in shock, with her wings unable to pick up wind to glide safely to the ground. He would soon learn she was as stubborn as he was, for her lone blue tail wrapped around his other leg as soon as he landed on the floor. Yelping at the sudden change, he had no choice but to fall with her down.

The landing was as painful as one would have imagined if they looked up to notice the ceiling was nearly three stories up, adding to the fact Beast must have been really loaded to afford a hall that big, "Ugh…" he got up on all fours and looked around, hoping to find the gargoyle before she found him. Nothing but large pillars, knight armor with medieval weaponry, and a fine red carpet adorned the place.

Speaking of the carpet, it felt really soft and wonderful under his hand, though the texture of the cloth left something to be desired, "You… little…" he had found her, beneath him, with his hands on both her breasts and her red eyes speaking of murder the likes had never been heard before and torture that would turn any deity insane. Though he had to praise her for keeping the rose and its crystal container still intact.

His face was grabbed by her claw and soon slammed down on the floor with a loud crack. She grinned as she lifted the head, hoping to hear the sound once again… but found a broken armor. Turning to her side, he was standing where the armor had been, blushing slightly but taking a defensive stance with his inverted grip on his blade. He never thought he'd be glad to have a knee-jerk reaction to women wanting to hurt him, one he got after dealing with kunoichi that got mad at the drop of a hat and would attack first and ask questions never.

However, he made a fatal mistake. He had exchanged places with one of the armors, and every single one was carrying a weapon. When she stood up she held a large spiked mace with a grip that showed expertise and a mastered skill. Something odd he noticed while she charged again was that she didn't glide at him. He was worried since, despite being in a closed environment, she could still move freely above him. Briefly wondering what happened since her wings looked find, he prepared himself for another round with the she-devil.

After putting down the rose, she ran at him with both hands holding the mace. Naruto spun around once before clashing against her yet again, feeling the strength difference. He was strong as a shinobi, and had no doubt he could do some serious damage, but she was another story. Once again his legs were forced to take the force, but the sturdier floor didn't crumble. His legs bent down as she showed an insane amount of strength he knew could rip steel doors off their hinges. Seeing the look of distress on his face had her smile again.

And then, she showed she was not only physically stronger, but that she had far more experienced fighting by taking one hand off her mace and grabbing him by the lapels of his purple gi. Naruto gasped as she turned around, lifted him above her head, and slammed him down on the ground. His back ached, but he had taken hits from Tsunade and lived, so he sucked it up and stared at her. He blushed as she stood over him, a leg raised to crush his head… and giving him a nice view.

Once again, he relied on his survival instincts and thus she only crushed an armor's breastplate like it was paper under her talons, making her grow angrier, "Don't you know any other tricks except running away?!"

He nodded while standing behind her, charging while putting his hands in a seal, "Just one in case I find strong people like you that I can't beat alone." She prepared herself for anything, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

She tried to expect anything to happen… she didn't think she'd see five blond boys surround her. However, she could tell who was the original, "I see, so those are solid copies, but, as it should be expected of a Keyblade, you can't just hand them out to anyone. Those copies aren't the real you, so they can't hold that weapon."

"We can still kick your ass." The clones said, taking a standard taijutsu stance while the real Naruto returned to his more defensive one.

They all rushed at her, and she charged right back. Spinning the mace in her hands, she avoided the clones and clashed her weapon with the blond holding a Keyblade. And that was when she knew… she had made a big mistake. The boy smirked at her and as they stepped back for another swing, he threw his weapon at another. The gargoyle gasped when her mace turned the one she fought into smoke, while the real Naruto was already above her with the Keyblade in both hands.

"Now!" he cried as he swung down the sword with so much force that he broke the gargoyle's mace.

She gasped when the weapon fell to the floor broken in two, but the shock turned into pain when one of the clones rushed at her and slid down like a baseball player trying to get a risky homerun. Using one of his favorite moves, the clone kicked her into the air, where another repeated the strike while midair to send her higher. All clones did it, sending her higher and thus closer to the real blond.

"How?!" she cried in pain before the real blond slashed her side with a single swing, sending her falling down into a heap.

The resulting crash created a small crater in which she laid, panting from the pain while he landed before her. The boy stared at his weapon as he felt and saw something incredible. The wound he inflicted on her was emanating a strange energy. Small dark pink orbs flew from her and into the blade, and just then he felt some of the pain and exhaustion from his fights had just vanished like they had never happened.

"What… just happened?" he asked, suddenly speechless.

She grunted, staring at him in shock, "A Keyblade that devours the energy of others…? That can't be… If you hold such a weapon, then you must be… like me…" she stared at the boy in shock, unable to understand what she had just seen and said, "Only one with a strong heart but forsaken by the light could have such power. And yet, it doesn't feel like you're like any other denizen of the darkness."

Looking at her, he finally spoke, "I don't understand what you're saying, but I think I get some parts." He stared at his Keyblade, "I got this weapon from accepting something I kept hidden in me." He growled at the memories of the sneers, the whispers from the villagers that he was no longer pushing down, "I don't really care what I am at this point, just who I am."

"Who are you?" she asked, puzzled, but seeing something deep in him.

He looked her in the eye, "Naruto Uzumaki. And you are?"

She stood up, "I am known as Demona. Now let me ask, what is someone like you doing here? You are like me, yet don't seem to have a goal."

He chuckled, "I was told I'd find a strong warrior here… Seems I did."

She smiled, "Quite a compliment."

"What about you?" he asked back, before aiming his sword at her, "That's the only question I have for you. You taking that rose has caused someone a lot of grief, so give me a good reason to not finish this fight. You said you needed it to be rid of something, so what makes you think stealing it is a good option?"

She wasn't impressed, and kept a cool head, "I was looking for an artifact to destroy a curse placed on me by an annoying little trickster. I came to this world looking for an artifact with power over one's appearance, and the rose had the most powerful magic I had ever seen. To get rid of this curse and make those that made me into nothing but a ridiculed servant to them, stealing all I held dear… You can see I don't hesitate."

"I can see that you're selfish if you think can take from others without caring how you hurt them, like Beast and Belle." Naruto accused the woman for the actions that made him think of people he knew while she merely laughed. He gained shivers down his spine, and not in the good way either. Her mouth was laughing but her smile never reached those cold red glowing eyes.

"Ah hah hah hah hah… Selfish? Is it selfish to want a better life for my people? Is it selfish to covet the beautiful world the light lets the filthy humans exist in? While my race and I have always been accursed in their eyes? You've got a lot of cheek, _boy_." She said, spitting out the last word with immense venom and hatred. "Like all humans, you're utterly self-righteous in your accusations. We gargoyles can't afford that luxury, cursed to turn to stone in the day, and forced to forever long to see the sun while trapped in the embrace of the night."

She slowly moved towards him, her tail waving threateningly while Naruto glared her down, "And why do you hate humans so much? Why are you as cruel as them, then?"

"I don't have to explain a thing to you filthy creatures! Do you know what I hate the most about you hairless apes? You're weak. You live but a fraction of the time we Gargoyles do, and have none of our physical prowess. Yet…" she lost it, "IT IS YOU THE LIGHT CHOSE! We are outcast to those that enjoy the gifts the worlds had to offer and take for granted! HAS ANY OF YOUR KIND EVER LIFTED A HAND TO HELP US?! NEVER!"

He every word was made with her body slamming her tail out and towards him. He had to duck, dodge, dip, dive, and drop down due to her flailing limb. And it was clear to him that he couldn't keep up the constant movements as she was slowly pushing him to the edges of the hall towards before he had to jump to the hole they fell from.

"And I couldn't even enjoy it myself but you don't hear me whining about it!" Naruto declared as she jumped right after him and tried to strike him again, but he once again surprised her when he grabbed her tail, grinning. "Alright!" He begun moving his entire body in a circle, gripping her tail tightly as she angrily screeched.

"You little-" she started to curse, but couldn't say more.

"SO LONG!" He threw her off the ledge the moment he hit maximum speed, making her shriek as she seemed to plummet down. Thanks to the motions of his throw, she had been forced to drop the rose, which a simple replacement with a tile put into his hand, "Well, time to-"

He prepared to leave, before a tail shot out and gripped him by his leg. Tugging him right over the edge where he found the thief clutching the walls with talons dug right into the very stone work. He on the other hand, was in a very bad position. Being choked out by her tail, while she hung to the wall.

"Fool. You really don't know a thing about gargoyles, do you? We can climb the very stones that humans wouldn't be able to touch." She said mockingly to him, seeming to draw sadistic pleasure from his blue face., "I'll just strangle you until you pass out, then I'll dump your filthy carcass into the ravine below to rot. I can then grab the rose and leave at my leisure."

As she literally had him at her non-existent mercy, and because she deeply enjoyed cruel mockery of the humans she so loathed, the Gargoyle woman taunted Naruto. The edges of his vision were already blackening, and Naruto felt weaker and weaker with every breath.

"Dammit…" He cursed, trying to break loose but having neither the grip or footing to loosen her tail's stranglehold on his neck.

It came as a surprise to the two of them then, that a massive black fist shot from his back and violently punched Demona into the back of the stone. Dark blood flew from her mouth, while her red eyes widened in shock at what she saw slowly emerge from his back. A black shadow had formed. With arms larger than her own by far, a massive black chest, a head covered in an ominous looking scarf, and long spiky hair that flowed behind it in a long, wild mane. Over its chest there was an immense gaping hole, shaped like a…

"Heartless!" Demona was no stranger to the denizens of the dark, what she was a stranger too was how this human had one for a, "…a Guardian… Only one of the True Dark has…"

She let go of him, by pulling him tightly to her chest and gripping him with her wings and tail wrapped around his waist now. Too shocked by both his freedom and what came out of him, he didn't notice the Guardian already disappearing into nothing as she climbed up and onto the roof whereupon she gently let him down, allowing him space to breathe and cough painfully. Silently her wings wrapped around her body like a cape while her eyes returned to their normal state.

"Why… did you…?" he tried to ask, only for her to frown.

"Who knows why I let you go." She stared at him, as if unable to believe his existence itself, "But what you just called upon shows that you're not another human… It seems I shouldn't have looked for the rose, but you instead." She crawled closer to him, and stared him in the eye, "You're far from finding the true power you hold deep in you, and yet this potential you have told me that you may be what I needed."

He gasped to get some breath back, "What's your point?"

She kneeled before him, but didn't lower her head, "I wish to accompany you, and find out if what I just saw proves what I believe."

He sighed and let himself fall flat on his back, before chuckling to the rainy sky, "Know what? It seems you're the one I was looking for…"

She stared at him some more, unable to decipher what made her comply, ' _This power and potential… With the right persuasion, I could be rid of this curse and finally make fate pay with someone that understands._ '

 **COULD**

 **YOU**

 **FINALLY**

 **BE**

 **THE**

 **ONE**

 **FOR**

 **US**

 **WHO**

 **LIVE**

 **IN**

 **SHADOWS**

 **? ? ?**

 **XXXXXX**

And that's my rap!

Naruto's first party member is Demona, and it wasn't a pretty first meeting, but hey, making allies is never easy. Anyway, next chapter Naruto and Demona will go to a new world and meet the next and final – definitely a three-member party here, not changing that – addition to their group. Here's a hint, it's another sexy lady, but a sadly underused one that didn't appear as much as she could, and she's got lots of power. Oh, and she's from Disney.

 _Beta's notes_ : The Lord Of Pages here. The Swordslinger as always has me on as his beta. And we worked extra hard on this first installment of his spin-off. As before he let me out of my naughty box, and with a liberal amount of beatings and encouragement with rusty dog food tins, I have been able to help him with his stories. We hope you enjoy this chapter, and the hard work we put into it. As for me, I've outworn my welcome, and The Swordslinger is giving me the stink eye again… So back into my naughty box I go. Who knows when I will be able to see the sun again.

Swordslinger out!


	3. Jungle's lost queen

I OWN NOTHING

Some of you want me to pair Naruto with Maleficent because of the live action movie, I bet. Check a picture under the title "satisfy your mistress" by an artist called twisted-wind on DeviantArt.

 **XXXXXX**

 **NEVER**

 **HESITATE**

 **AND**

 **REACH**

 **OUT**

 **TO**

 **MY**

 **GIFTS**

Dropping the rose where it had been, Naruto turned to the only person waiting for him. His new companion didn't look too happy for his choice, but no word was uttered against it. Everything was as it had been before he arrived. Though he knew the rose's owner would be made if he found the real thief, the same trespasser that had made him lash out at the quite lovely brunette he kept locked in a room like a caged bird.

Having both meet each other would definitely come back to bite him in the rear, but fate wasn't that kind, "Naruto…?" there she was, looking as lovely as ever even when the sight that greeted her scared her.

A gargoyle stood before her, with her eyes glowing red and a sneer that showed sharp teeth. But before Demona could react as she normally would before a human, she stopped when Naruto appeared at her side. The blond gave her a warning glance before turning to the brunette, who was surprised at seeing his speed and how easily he commanded the gargoyle to stand down.

"Sorry about that, but we've come to terms." He told the girl while the redhead woman stared at her with narrowed eyes, "Now that I've delivered the rose and dealt with the thief, I hope Beast learns some manners around you." Seeing Belle still uncomfortable he turned to Demona, "Would you cut that out? She's got nothing to do with you."

"On contrary, she is one of the favorites of the light." The gargoyle said slowly approaching the girl, "After all, it's not often I am so close to the pure light of a Princess of Heart, but there's no mistaking it. You are a girl that was blessed with power that can stop all darkness or bring destruction to all who bask in the light." Then she turned to the blond, claws up, "And she's-"

"Someone you won't hurt while I stand and breathe!" Naruto shouted, standing between the two ladies with his Keyblade ready, "I don't know what's so special of a Princess of Heart, but if you wish to harm her, a girl who has done nothing wrong to either of us, then you're just an idiot." He growled, "If you want payback, I can sympathize. But dragging people who had no say in who or what they are to get it… That's exactly like the ones you claim to hate."

She sneered at him while Belle stood behind the boy, awed at his bravery and the way he spoke to the gargoyle, "The ends justify the means, and you should know better that people like her take life for granted."

He silenced her by stabbing the tip of his sword on the ground, staring at her firmly, "And she was kind to me, whether I was a thief or not. You're not harming her, and that's final. Am I clear?"

Demona gave Belle one last glare before nodding, "Understood, but sooner or later you will learn of their power and why it's important to all of us."

As she stood back, he turned to the brunette, "Sorry about that… again."

She shook her head, "No, I should thank you. Never would I have imagined someone like you would be so determined and kind." Then she spoke to the gargoyle, "Though I have to ask what did you mean with me being a princess?"

Demona scoffed, "Not a princess, a Princess of Heart. Your heart is so pure that it along those of other six maidens as special as you can change all worlds for better or worse. Believe me when I say you're better in the boy's hands. At least he could protect you better from those after that kind of power than that brute that owns this castle."

Naruto grew worried, "Wait, you didn't mention anything about people being after her."

The gargoyle arched a brow, "You control the power of the Heartless and don't even know?"

Confusion spread all over his face, "Heartless, there goes that word again… what does that even mean?"

Demona sighed and rubbed her face with a claw, "Sit down, this will be a long story."

An explanation later, "I knew this power was unlike anything I've seen before, and it's actually scary, but to take the hearts from worlds and turn them to nothing?" he didn't know if he should be sick or worried.

Demona nodded, "You are intriguing. You are certainly not a Keyblade user like the others, you're too wet behind the ears. And yet while you're against destruction, you embrace the darkness and its power."

"Destroying worlds for the sake of power and revenge isn't my thing." He closed his eyes and crossed his arms, "Is that what she wants from me? To become like that?"

"The worlds aren't destroyed, per say." Demona started, "They're embraced by the darkness, and their hearts only make the Heartless stronger and capable of fighting those who wield Keyblades of light. It is war, enemies take control over the other's home to gain the upper hand. You're just another soldier that has taken a different side than the one the light chose for him."

He nodded firmly, uncrossing his arms and staring at the taller gargoyle, "It's a war I'd be glad to stop, but I know I'm not even started." He looked at Belle and then at Demona, before stepping aside to look at both, "The two of you are just casualties of this stupid fight, like Haku…" he fought back a growl at the memory of how the ice shinobi was used as a puppet because of a stupid war, "We're all here because someone tried to choose our path. I'm stuck with the darkness because I chose to, but if I am allowed to truly choose, then I want to find whoever is causing this chaos and stop them, no matter how many people there are."

"There are as many people in the shadows as there are stars in the sky, boy." Demona said, "Everyone makes all worlds a little crueler. You fighting them wouldn't change much."

"Then I have to make sure everyone knows not to mess with me." he retorted with a cocky grin.

"How so?" Belle asked, intrigued.

He smirked at her, "By being meaner and stronger. After all, Demona isn't hurting you because of me."

Said gargoyle growled while Belle grew worried, "Are you sure? You could be getting in more trouble than you could ever imagine. Only the heavens know what kind of evils you could face."

"I've seen guys ruining every life they come across without any consequence." He started, glaring a bit as he saw them in his mind, "I promised myself I'd take care of them and make them regret what they did, not with death." That shocked Demona, who'd have retorted how the pacifist route wouldn't work if he didn't add, "That would never be enough, and it just lets them get away from truly answering for all the wrongs they've done. I want to make them regret every single action that makes them think hurting people like you, people who are attacked because of what they were born as."

His words resounded in the two women's hearts, and it made Demona see him in a slightly different light, though Belle was amazed at how deep the boy was. Odd as he was, there was a bizarre wisdom he had. However, things couldn't be that easy. He was troubled with a single problem and Belle could see that when he turned to her.

She decided to speak first, "Is something the matter? You're not looking as confident as you did before."

"I just beat up Beast, and he's like this place's guardian." The boy started, "If what Demona says about the heart of the world is true, then will he be enough to keep you and this world safe? What if the Heartless sneak past him? I know I'm fighting with darkness, but it doesn't mean I want whatever good people are in here to get hurt."

"Let them fall, then." Demona said coldly, "Strength is gained through struggles, so allow them to fend for themselves and face the consequences of being unable to do a thing for themselves." He frowned at her, to which she sighed, "But if it is your desire to finally move on from this world with peace of mind… You can lock this world's heart from Heartless. The question is, can you?"

He lifted his Keyblade and stared at it, "A Keyblade of light is meant to protect the worlds, what would this one do to it?"

"Claim it." Demona whispered to him, leaning with her lips close to his ear, "Make this world yours, then. Dark Keyblades have many more powers than opening doors. Take yours and lock this world's heart. It will make others unable to truly control it unless they can defeat you."

He looked at her in shock before turning to an equally surprised Belle, who exclaimed, "You aren't the most trustworthy of people here to begin with. What makes you think we should listen to you?"

"Believe what you want." Demona started before taking a seat and staring at the boy, "If you let the Heartless into the heart, the world would crumble. But if you use your Keyblade to claim it as yours, you and only you can take it and use it. If you're so intent on keeping worlds safe from others, why not claim them before they do?"

Naruto was silent, shocking Belle, "You… You can't be serious, Naruto. Listen to her! She's talking like some sort of dictator trying to make you into a conqueror."

"It doesn't sound bad." He said, nodding to Demona, "I take control over the worlds… in theory. I don't have to boss around anyone, just put my own seal over them and if anyone has a trouble, they'd have to deal with me." he looked up and sighed, "It'll be a pain, though. I know there are way stronger people than me still out there, and I'm not even sure how strong I am compared to most."

Demona's smile turned sly, "It is your choice, a world protected by your dark rule, or a free world where anyone can run rampant."

He sighed and turned to the door, "So… where's the heart?"

Belle was absolutely stunned, petrified, "Are you serious?"

He nodded, "If I find this is a trick, trust me, I will make Demona regret lying to me and find a way to fix it."

Said redhead's smile widened, "I'd never betray you after seeing what you can do. You're far too invaluable to backstab."

It didn't put him at ease, but it was the best he got.

 **THE**

 **FIRST**

 **OF**

 **MANY**

 **TO**

 **BE**

 **YOURS**

"So this is it?" he asked upon staring at a large Keyhole in what was definitely the most massive ball room anyone should have the right to own.

The keyhole was in the middle of the ceiling, which confused Naruto, "The hearts can be anywhere, so be careful when looking for them." Beast, fully healed, replied as he nodded, "Some members of royalty like myself know of other worlds and of the hearts in them. I was entrusted this secret by my father. Now, let me just say one thing…" he glared at Demona, "I am only trusting you because Belle said you could help. If you are tricking or manipulating her, I'll rip you in two, no matter how many limbs I have to lose."

She chuckled through her nose, amused, "I'd love to see you try."

"Silence." The boy said, aiming his Keyblade at the keyhole, "Ok… here goes nothing…"

A dark purplish light flew from the tip and into the hole. Instantly, large black chains wrapped themselves around it and then it appeared. A large black emblem resembling a shattered heart appeared over it, with a black crown over the initial symbol. Naruto was at first confused, but then… he heard her again. In his mind, heart and soul he felt at ease, meaning it was the mysterious benefactor he met before.

She giggled, "Truly, the start of someone fit to be a king."

He blinked, "King…?" the others stared at him, confused.

"Of course, only someone that has shown both people of the light and darkness this kind of resolve could be fit to rule a world. This is your first step, so grow and become stronger. Become a true king of darkness."

He didn't notice, but for a second his blue eyes flashed into a golden color, "King of Darkness… Sounds like a good title, don't you think?"

Beast growled, "You're no king of mine."

Naruto shrugged, "I'm not going to ask for you to bow to me." then he glared, "I am going to ask that you apologize to Belle for hurting her, right here and now."

Beast was about to growl, but Belle stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, "It doesn't matter. I don't want you to be sorry, I want you to try to be better."

Seeing that, the boy sighed but turned to leave with Demona in tow, "I guess I can leave you two without much to worry about. I'll come visit regularly in case this whole princess thing has others involved."

Just when he was about to leave, Belle spoke to him, "Thank you, for helping us. You're… truly one of a kind."

He smiled at her, "Not a problem, I may get used to this. Now… How do we leave this place?" he finally asked, looking annoyed at himself with a face only a certain lazy acquaintance of his could make.

Demona smiled, "You can go to wherever your heart desires. Focus on what you are looking for, a way out, and summon it from deep within you. Then you'll see it."

Knowing that things would go crazy either way, he closed his eyes and tried to think of a path out of the castle to another world. As if acting on its own, he brought up a hand and felt something different. Opening his eyes, he saw an oval shaped dark portal, the exterior moving like dark flames while the interior was darker than any void he had seen before. He couldn't help but smile at how easy it had been to do such a trick.

"A Dark Corridor, so he really is bound to darkness." Beast said, and quickly added, "Hey kid… Better watch your back out there. If there's one thing my finally kept secret from other worlds is that not only are there Heartless, but those who try to control them. I'm saying this so you don't end like them, just how I ended up as this… monster you see."

The boy's expression softened around Beast, and he nodded at him, "I've seen enough monsters out there. The fact you actually feel sorry makes you a better person than any of them could be. Just treat Belle better, or I'll be back to mop the floor with you."

"Enough talk, we should go." Demona urged him, "The sun's about to come out, and I'm tired of this talking."

He nodded and the two went off to a new world while the boy waved at the beauty and the beast. But as they walked forward the boy had to ask Demona one thing, "Why are you really with me?" he turned to her, though quickly faced forward, "I've not been friendly to you, and it's obvious we don't trust each other. Is what you want really that important that you'd side with someone you hate so much?"

She looked at the boy, confused at first, "I am only looking for a way to rid myself of the curse given to my kind. If a gargoyle's exposed to the sun, they will turn to stone. I, however, have a different kind of curse. Should the sun touch me I'll turn into a human… A pathetic sack of flesh and bones unable to fight with the pride and power of a gargoyle, a being that pretends to know shame and just steal without end."

"So you can't fight as a human?" he asked, puzzled.

She frowned, "I'd need a proper weapon, but even then I wouldn't have my strength or the ability to take as much punishment as I can."

Nodding slowly, he answered, "Well, if that is your problem then I will try to find a way to fix that. Or at the very least we can fight in the night."

She stared at him, trying to decipher him, "Why would you do that?"

"I don't want to have another comrade stabbing me for something petty." He told her, looking into her eyes.

That was certainly not something she expected to hear, "Who betrayed you?"

"Same kinda people you hate." Was his answer while he scratched his head, "Everything was given to him in a silver platter: popularity, our teacher and mentor's undivided attention, praise, love… And he threw it all away just to get power to kill someone. I can tell you and him are alike, that's why I don't want to fight you, or else you could end like him: a puppet to some bastard's plan."

She suppressed a bad memory, but nodded at him, "I will take your words into consideration, boy. Now, where to?"

He looked up, "To get the last member of our group…" his eyes flashed yellow for a second, and while Demona was surprised at his response it was because she couldn't hear the one that talked to him.

 **ANOTHER**

 **WARRIOR**

 **AND**

 **WORLD**

 **TO**

 **COMMAND**

After stepping out of the Dark Corridor, both fighters looked up at the sky and smiled when seeing the stars and moon. However, Naruto was quickly confused when seeing the thick vegetation all around him, for he was used to forests, not jungles. Demona didn't dwell too much on the surroundings, and simply moved forward with Naruto quickly following after her. He was about to ask, but she answered quickly.

"I can smell fire and oil, meaning there's people using oil lamps. And where there's people, there may be a chance to find that person you're looking for or a clue." He nodded and quickly tagged along.

Due to their height difference, with Naruto being rather short for his age and Demona being taller than the average human woman, he had to take longer steps to be at her side. It took them a short trip with Naruto's Keyblade as a machete to cut through the thicker parts of vegetation. In the end it seemed that he would have to trust Demona's nose more often in the future.

Before them stood a large city made of stone, the buildings weren't that towering, but the structure was still outstanding. Oil lamps did illuminate the place around walls, while the jungle made the place look eerily desolate. It was quiet, with the flicker of the flames being the only sound to echo in the city. However, since no one had come to greet them when they stepped through the gates, it seemed to be desolate.

"What kind of ghost town is this supposed to be?" he asked to thin air.

Demona answered, "I wouldn't say it's a ghost town. The oil lamps show there's been people here, and I can smell something alive here. There's mostly animals, but there may be some humans around."

He rubbed one of the doors to a building, "They keep the place looking good for a handful."

It was when he opened it that he saw they weren't alone. A sharp gasp rose out of his throat when a yellow, spotted furry hand jumped out and grabbed his armored wrist. He was glad he had gauntlets, otherwise the sharp black claws for nails would've cut skin. The door opened fully, and from it exited a towering – around seven-foot-tall – muscular humanoid. It looked male, wearing only a black loincloth and having muscles over muscles like a true warrior, but a lean constitution akin to a shinobi. He was also covered in the same yellow, spotted fur he had seen on his hand, a tail, a white chest, and had a leopard's head with a hood.

When it moved to grab the boy by the lapels of his gi, said kid quickly stepped back, pulling back his arm while the leopard man still held it, and brought him out. The change in his balance made the leopard man roll out of the building and fall to the ground. Naruto would have felt sorry for it, had he not seen Demona already at work holding back the steel handle of a scythe with both hands as she struggled with another leopard man. The furry warrior was trying and failing to overpower the gargoyle, who easily lifted him above her, slammed him to the ground, and took his weapon as hers.

And they weren't alone, "So this is why I smelled people but also animals… Where are we?"

"Wait!" he told everyone, trying to be reasonable, "Listen, we're only here looking for someone. I apologize for what I did, ok? I want no trouble so let's-" his only reply was a roar and a squad of leopard men ready to tear him and Demona to pieces. Bringing out his Keyblade, he sighed tiredly and took his defensive stance, "Demona, don't kill them. Let's see if beating them up can make them more reasonable."

"Or willing to obey." She said with a smirk, twirling her weapon once and welcoming the challenge.

"Stop!" said the voice of a girl, as a young woman walked over to the beastly warriors, "It seems our guests are not greeted how they should be."

Slender, beautiful, dark skin, long white hair, cyan eyes with slit pupils and a bust that'd make many women jealous along hips and thighs that could make a man die happy painted her as an epitome of exotic beauty. To add to her captivating appearance, she was clad in black panther fur bikini top that showed the curvature of her mature chest, a sarong that revealed her round hips, and gold bracelets and anklets. She was also barefoot and looked not that much older than Belle.

However, if the sight of divine beauty managed to escape someone, what stood out was the golden rod in her hands. It was curved at the top half, with a leopard head which opened maw held a red orb. Slamming down her staff once had been enough to make the leopard men stand aside and make way for her. With them out of her way, she walked closer to the two guests to her city, and Naruto stared more than he should at the sway on her, hips like a pendulum.

"Do you wish to fight us yourself?" Naruto asked, raising his Keyblade.

She stared at him while Demona slightly arched a brow, "I didn't expect to see a man as… small as you here." She was, also, as tall as Belle, which meant he was shorter than her. But Demona was still taller.

Biting back a grunt at being reminded of his height, he tried to be reasonable, "Listen, I don't know who you are, but we just came here looking for someone." He introduced himself, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and this is Demona. We mean you no harm, and we only fought to protect ourselves. Let's just avoid from keeping this going on and on."

Nodding once, she replied, "I am La, Queen La. And you are intruding in the city of Opar."

"We just want to find someone and then we'll go, I promise." He said, not pleading or even begging, he was speaking firmly with his eyes locked on hers.

Slamming her staff on the floor once again, she was gone in a whirl of green smoke, only to reappear on a balcony with a sultry smile all over her face, "You see, I was told that my leopard men found a man. I was thrilled, excited even, to find someone fit to be a king for me. What do I find instead but a cub and some bat woman? Oh well, I guess I can be entertained and see how long you can keep standing."

With a snap of her fingers, three of the leopard men lunged at Naruto from all sides. And he surprised their leader by jumping in the air and stretching his legs, kicking two right in their faces. Using the momentum, he leapt over the third one, landed behind him, and slashed his back. The young woman's eyes widened when seeing the animal warrior's life energy be drained by the boy's Keyblade.

Demona wasn't doing bad either. With a weapon in hand, she spun her body around once and brought one end on one of the warriors' head before hooking the scythe under another's feet to trip him. She wanted to finish them off, but she hadn't heard Naruto say they should. Against her own judgment, she spared them and twirled the scythe once before ramming the pummel on a sneaking warrior's gut behind her back.

"Shouldn't we get rid of them?" she finally asked the boy, ducking under a claw swipe before kicking the offending leopard man.

He shook his head while blocking a scythe, getting into a stalemate with another warrior, "Let's teach them a lesson. If I'm going to be king, I guess I'll have to take this place by force." He swiftly jumped over the feral fighter and delivered a solid axe kick to his head, knocking him out.

La watched in awe how her warriors started to thin out, until it was only a handful against the two otherworldly fighters, "Can you really not defeat these two?" she asked, before appearing before the two intruders, staff held at them, "I guess you are more trouble than I gave you credit for."

"I'd say the same if you were an actual threat." Demona countered with a smug smile.

La lashed out with her staff, taking aim and showing her power. A green beam of light erupted from the head, and flew straight at Demona. Reacting quickly, the gargoyle raised her weapon to block the strike. What happened next put both on edge. The hit made the scythe disappear from existence, and it was a good thing Demona let go the instant the attack touched it. She saw another attack come her way and jumped over it, but left a leopard man open to take it.

Both gargoyle and shinobi watched one of the warriors get vaporized by the strike with only his clothes remaining, and when they turned to La she had a large smile on her face, "I'm not queen of this city for simply sitting idly in a throne." She approached the two and disappeared in another cloud of green smoke.

Thinking fast, Naruto turned around and brought up his Keyblade, blocking an energy attack from La. She gasped when seeing his weapon not only stop her attack, but the boy gave a step forth and swatted it right back at her like a game of baseball. La opened her mouth in a silent scream before showing incredible agility and flexibility by jumping over to a wall, kick at it to impulse herself higher, and land squatted on a roof.

He actually smirked, "So you can actually do more than rely on that thing."

La clenched her jaw at his insolence, "Don't get cocky."

She brought up her staff and rain started to fall around the two intruders, soaking them and bringing lightning to the city. Instinctively, both could tell what she had planned. The boy leapt up to a nearby wall and ran on it while Demona's tail stiffened when she saw the queen move her arms and rolled to one side, dodging a lightning bolt that nearly fried them to a crisp. Smoke came out from the spots that they stood on.

"You're going to have to try harder than that!" Naruto shouted at the exotic beauty and threw his Keyblade at her.

La side-stepped the blade and watched it nail itself on the floor before turning back to the boy. He was midair, a fist reared back and inches from her. Cursing briefly, she disappeared to get away, right where his weapon was. With a smirk, she eyed him once before grabbing the handle of the dark, incomplete Keyblade. She had a few good taunts ready in her head, but had no idea of what would happen.

Pain shot through her arm unlike anything a human had ever felt before, forcing her to drop the weapon and hold her arm, "What… What was that?! Such a foul power… Why does that sword reject me when this mystical staff accepted me as this city's queen?!"

Naruto held up his hand, the sword appearing on it, "This blade listens to its king, not a girl that would easily throw away her dolls or burn them." He glared at her, loudly declaring, "Those guys served you and you killed them without even thinking about it! If that thing is what makes you their queen, I'll break it… and bring this entire city down!"

"I am queen of this land, I won't let a jester and his pet to mock me!" she snarled.

And someone growled behind her, "Pet, huh?" La turned around too late, Demona had gotten to a high enough building to glide at her with the speed needed to knock her down.

La rolled to a stop and rolled, holding a red cheek and glaring daggers at the two fighters, "After them, you fools!" the queen shouted, sending her loyal leopard warriors at them.

The feral creatures leapt to the roof, climbing on the walls with their nails, and swiftly stood by the white haired young woman's side, showing their claws and scythes. Not even bothering with a proper battle cry, they all rushed at the intruders with roars of their own. However, the unlikely duo was already running towards the queen, claws and sword ready.

Growling as she delivered a solid right hook to a leopard man's jaw, Demona turned to her ally, "Whatever mercy you have for your enemies, throw it away like she's done for these fools." She side-stepped a scythe's swing, grabbed one part with a hand and the wielder's throat with the other, "She has no trouble dispatching them, why should you?!" she brought the warrior over her head and slammed him face down, hard.

Naruto was busy weaving and bobbing around three leopard men's claw swipes, "Because they're like us!" his words made the leopard men stop for a brief second, which allowed him to jump over them and run at La, "Nothing but puppets used by someone who was born lucky and decides our future for ourselves! That's why I'm only taking her down!"

La was about to teleport, but couldn't when feeling the ground shake under her feet before two strong hands popped out of it and grabbed her ankles, "What?!"

She found the boy inches from her face before he rammed the pummel of his sword on her gut, making her fall flat on her back with a smile, "I knew you had tricks, so I had to come up with mine." He explained as he squatted beside her to take the staff from her hands, "You didn't notice there were two me's, one I made when throwing the sword to this roof, trying to get to you. I had the other one sneak under your feet."

She growled, furious and yet also curious, "How did you know where I'd end?"

He pointed to a nearby hole on the ground, the exact place where his sword landed on as a mark, "I managed to get you here with some luck, distinguishing who you were was easy because of your footsteps since you're light and barefoot. Now…" he held up the staff and turned to the leopard men, holding it to them, "Will you fight for her, or will you face me?"

The leopard men looked from each other than to him, before they bowed submissively to Naruto who spun the staff around skillfully, "How?!" the queen asked in shock.

"Queen La. I have beaten you. Do you know what that means?" He asked her coldly, his sword out and pointed at her neck, the Keyblade glimmering with ill intent that put shivers down her spine, "I possess the right to take your heart as the future King of Darkness."

She looked at him fearfully, as he seemed to consider what to do, Demona standing nearby and looking interested in what he wished to do, "Will you?"

"…I will not. As bad as she is… I've seen and fought far worse leaders than her, and she has the capability to improve and change." He turned to the defeated queen, "I will grant you back your staff, in return for it, you will work for me, for it seems I've found a proper companion for this journey in you." He flipped the staff back until he gripped it by its head.

Demona smiled at that, ' _Not bad, not bad at all… He's a conqueror when he needs to be, but a king first._ '

Her heart beat rapidly as he leaned down, his expression one of seriousness, and a blush coming to her face due to his close proximity to her, "Do you swear to service me, Queen La?"

Inside Queen La's mind and heart, she was growing truly excited and amazed by how charismatic the future king was. ' _This boy… no… This man seeks to become the King… I've never ever seen one who could retain their hold on the crown. Is he the one to succeed? To surpass all others who attempted it? I want to see him succeed… I want to raise him into a king who can rule over all… including my body, heart, and soul.'_

She looked at him, her odd slit eyes glimmering with true desire and passion as she bowed her head in submission, "I swear it, my king. I swear to become your companion, your servant, and your loyal aide… And perhaps one day, your consort as well." She said as she gratefully accepted her staff from him, he grabbed her hand and helped her stand up, making her blush even more due to how close they were.

With a smile, he turned around and pondered what world to go to next. "Now all I have to do is claim this world's heart as mine." Though, being as young and innocent as he still was, an odd question was in his head, ' _What's a… consort?_ ' he shook the thought and mentally shrugged, ' _I guess I can bother with big king words like that later._ '

Demona frowned, though, glaring at the queen for her words, even if she didn't know why.

 **THE**

 **KING**

 **SHALL**

 **LOVE**

 **DARKNESS**

 **AND**

 **DARKNESS**

 **WILL**

 **LOVE**

 **HIM**

 **BACK**

 **XXXXXX**

And that's my rap!

Sorry if the chapter was shorter than the last one, but I think it's best to get the chapters out sooner. Anyway, I hope you liked it, and yes, that is La from the animated Tarzan cartoon. Sadly, she only appears in three episodes that barely show how goddamn sexy she is. Even more unfortunately, she's kind of an obscure villain because of it, so she doesn't get much love from people.

Still, Naruto will NOT be oblivious to the girls throwing themselves at him, especially when they make it painfully obvious. Though, to be fair for what I did the cliché, I never knew a girl liked me until some of her friends told me, and by that time it was too late to know or talk to her ever again… And I remembered that and posted this on Valentine's Day. Single Awareness Day, more like it.

Sappy stories aside, Naruto's party is complete and it will only be with those two. Think King Of Fighters' Iori Yagami with Mature and Vice to Sora being Kyo with Donald and Goofy as his Benimaru and Daimon.

Swordslinger out!


	4. Fox and lion

I OWN NOTHING

Confession time: I'm starting to ponder whether or not to keep Kairi in the harem as I like Sora, he's a good kid that tries really hard even if each new game makes his efforts have a very small pay off.

 **XXXXXX**

 **ENJOY**

 **THE**

 **LIFE**

 **OF**

 **A**

 **KING**

 **AND**

 **SATE**

 **YOUR**

 **HUNGER**

Taking a city and a queen for himself was more fun than he had imagined it would be. Not only did the people, bizarre as they were, bow to him and try to make his stay a happy one, but he was reminded that it was his, all his. Sitting in a spacious bedroom with an elegant throne, servants tending to him with fine food and drinks, and a young woman that obeyed him and treated him with respect was nice.

"How're the guys doing?" he asked while two of the tribe of warriors fanned him at his throne, "Any luck finding the heart?"

His newest servant nodded, "As fast as they can, milord. And they're certainly more effective than that bat harlot at your side."

Demona, who had been on a corner studying the architecture of the place, scoffed, "Still your tongue, child. I am merely studying your city and see what uses it may have." She ignored the young queen and continued, "Boy, you should do better. If this place is to belong to you, expand your control over this world's lands not only by claiming its heart."

Putting his chin on his hand, the boy pondered her words, "There's always bound to be people that'll want to fight me, I think taking the heart first and letting them come and fail to take it from me works best."

"Do not sit idly, boy." The gargoyle started, "If you want to be king, you shall take as much as you can from the worms of these worlds and make sure they recognize that it belongs to someone better than them."

He smiled at that, "Sounds fun." He stared at the gargoyle's body and thought on a few things, "Your human form, what's it like?"

Demona growled, "Why bring that up?"

He hummed, "Well, could it be possible to make you able to change between it and this form at will?"

She stared at him with her eyes narrowed, intrigued, "Now, what would make you say that?"

Naruto stood up and walked to her, "To see if it's possible to fix that curse of yours. If you say that you fight better like a gargoyle, I want you to fight like that. But if your human form has any use for you, keep it."

"I'd say you're too kind, milord." La replied, walking to him with a deliberate sway of the hips, "To treat her with such kindness and give her a gift like that after you suffer from her rudeness? What king would treat a buffoon that mocks him with respect and presents?"

One should know Demona was not one to stand still, for she gained a mocking smile, "Do you mean I should be less to you like how you treat your own servants…?" she playfully snapped her fingers in mock recollection, "Oh wait, that's right, you are queen of nothing now. Nothing but being under your current lord's foot."

Before the two could fight, Naruto stopped them with a commanding tone, "Enough!" he got off his throne and stared at the two, La falling to her knees submissively and Demona stepping back, "You two are worse than children, and that's coming from someone who isn't an adult yet!" he turned to the exotic queen, "La, remember that Demona's a strong fighter that could have easily taken your best warriors, and she helped me to defeat you." Then he turned to Demona, "As for you, I expected you to know I mean what I say. Ignore whatever La thinks of you, I said I wanted your trust for a reason."

The two glared at each other briefly before nodding to the boy, "If that is what you wish, milord, I shall bring no further objections to your desire of women… at least as long as I you think of making me your consort." She smiled at him, enraptured with his presence, "After all, you are in your right to take and claim whatever you want from me as your servant."

Seeing the queen smile made the gargoyle feel sick, "She's nothing but a beast in heat, boy." She told Naruto with her glare and La's locking heatedly, "Besides, you could do better at your choices with women. Oh, but you did when choosing me as your first warrior."

"Again, enough." Naruto said firmly, silencing them for the time being while he massaged his temples with a hand, "Has anyone made any progress?" he asked the nearest leopard man.

He and others shook his head to their new king, which made Demona ponder, "Maybe someone has sealed this world's heart already. Not necessarily another like you, for who knows how many remain, but maybe it was one of the holders of a Keyblade of light."

Thinking over her words, he asked, "If what you told me is true, then that heart is gone from any Heartless and anyone else's grip."

"But this world could still be controlled or taken by someone." La warned him, "After all, the worlds' balance is laughable at best. It's quite tiresome to see how history repeats itself with their hearts and the barriers between them and light and darkness at risk."

Nodding once, Naruto turned to his two female warriors, "Then I shall find a way to claim it from this person. The only problem is… do I have to fight them?"

Demona was baffled, "You have to take the worlds' heart for yourself for a purpose that is actually righteous, and you worry about harming a sick fiend of the light?!"

La hushed her, "Our king must have a reason. After all, he must have had one to take someone like you along."

Before another fight could start, Naruto answered the winged woman, "It makes no difference if he's of the light or darkness. There is no way I will harm someone who doesn't deserve it, and that's final. If this user of the Keyblade pushes me to it, I'll make them regret facing me, make no doubt about that."

La bowed her head, "Understood, my king." Internally, though, ' _So powerful but naïve that those blessed by light deserve no mercy… Oh my king, you're so charmingly foolish…_ '

Demona closed her eyes but nodded, "I guess I shall wait."

He tilted his head to the side, "Wait for what?"

"Wait for when you realize how much those people you think are innocent deserve to suffer for all eternity." Was her simple answer before she left.

Naruto sat back on his throne, sighing, "I don't get her, even if I think I understand her character."

La walked to him, leaning close enough to show her form and to be as close as comfortably possible to him, "Do not mind her, my lord. After all, I shall be all you need as a warrior."

Turning to the defeated queen, he asked, "Could you at least look for a way to help her with her curse?"

La's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets, "What?! You can't be serious… my king!" she caught herself before going all out on how stupid it was, at least to her.

Shaking his head, the boy spoke as he leaned back on his seat, "Think on it. If you do her this solid, she'll be indebted to you." He thought some more, a hand on his chin while La's eyes sparkled at the idea of having the feisty gargoyle groveling at her feet, "And… don't ask for anything in return, and don't say I told you to do it for her."

La was shocked yet again, "But my king, that would be a good way to keep her on a leash!"

He glared, making her step back, "I want her to choose to work for me willingly, forcing her would make sure she backstabs us. No, I want you to be nice to her without asking for anything in return so she can feel welcomed. She may actually want to work with us better. Oh, I'm fond of making bastards squirm if I can do something to infuriate them, but Demona's not one I want to see forced to obey me."

Lowering her head, the queen took a deep breath but nodded, "As you command then, my king." She bowed and left, nearly growling, ' _That harlot does not deserve him, but if it's what he desires, I can't fail him or he'd be angry. It's too bad he's ordered me to do this in the first place, but if I sabotage it, he'll have only me to blame._ '

She was about to go to do her job miserably, until he stopped her, "La." She turned, seeing him clasp his hands below his chin, "I can see this upsets you, and I know you hate her. I'm actually reminded of what I had to deal with when some sick joke of fate paired me with someone far worse than Demona. That is why, if you do this and make her happy, I will reward you. Just endure it, ok?"

Her cheeks heated up as she smiled, enraptured by the warm smile he gave her at the end, "Y-Yes, my lord!" she nearly squeaked before running off, a hand on her chest to feel her madly beating heart.

As he was left with his thoughts and the leopard men still fanning him, the boy asked out loud, "Are girls always like this?" The two furry humanoids fanning him shrugged.

A giggle in his head answered him, "Seems like you're quite popular."

He closed his eyes and used his mind to talk to the voice that first greeted him after his fall as a shinobi and rebirth as a warrior of darkness, "Is something the matter?"

She giggled again, "Just as you've been chosen, there are those chosen by light. I'm sure you'd like to meet this one after your talk with your fine warriors. Be warned, foolish as this child may be, in reality there's quite the surprise in this Keyblade wielder. After all, you said yourself why you wouldn't fight one like this child, but can you truly say that when the heart of this world is about to be taken by him?"

He took in her words slowly, "Why are you telling me this now?"

A third and final giggle, "Why not? Either way you take, the path you chose will make you fight many like this child of the light. Even if – maybe, in another life – you could have been friends. Such is the fate of those at war, and we, cast in the shadows of the winners, have paid enough for the battles of the past."

He silently agreed, remembering that it was for a battle that he was no part of that his life had been turned into Hell without any choice whatsoever. And at that point, he didn't know who to hate. Should he despise Obito for being the cause of it, the puppeteer that used him, or whoever had originally controlled everything behind that mastermind? Or… the village? The people that actually treated him as lower than dirt.

Opening his eyes, he felt something shift inside him as he spoke out loud, "If there's a warrior of light here, I shall go meet this one and judge them myself." As memories of how he was shunned and ignored, hated for something that had never been his fault, for being at the wrong place, at the wrong time without any choice, he growled, "Tell Demona and La to remain here and wait for my return, I need to clear my head."

Hearing the voice yet again didn't help him, but she tried to, "As painful as that life was, you became stronger because of it. Should you return to the world you had the misfortune to call home, do so when you are strong enough to not only dictate your destiny, but that of the ones that stole your life from you."

Feeling angrier by the second, he clutched his chest, feeling the scar on it burning, but… "If you mean that I'll take their lives, you're mistaken." He told her firmly, the pain subsiding, "I'll make them pay, all right? It won't be with pretty words or trying to make them change when they've ruined far more than my life. Call it my brand of justice as future King of Darkness."

He heard a soft gasp, "Ah… such words… My entire being was already yours, but now… what else can I give you?" she giggled.

Confused at her words, he decided to shrug it off and keep moving, ' _Girls really are weird._ '

Suddenly, a leopard man appeared and kneeled before him, about to give him information.

 **WILL**

 **YOU**

 **FIND**

 **TRUE**

 **JUSTICE**

 **OR**

 **BECOME**

 **ITS**

 **BLIND**

 **SWORD**

 **? ? ?**

It was daytime, and Demona was nowhere to be seen in the castle, having locked herself in her room. La, as commanded by her king, was trying to figure out a way to help the gargoyle woman. The future king was busy with the matter at hand. A leopard man was guiding him through the jungle, helping him pass through the thick flora with his incomplete sword helping.

Their destination was something he didn't expect but wasn't as surprising as a gigantic stone city, it was a massive treehouse. Resting on top of a tree hundreds of feet tall, the building was made of wood with and old-fashioned but fine architecture that stood despite the pass of time thanks to the obvious effort put into it. A boat acted as an elevator operated by a rope, and he could see a hole on the roof.

"The heart couldn't be in such a place." He spoke and the leopard man nodded, pointing at the interior, "So you found something interesting for me…" another nod. Seeing that he wouldn't get more elaborate answers, he turned to his subject, "Then go tell La and Demona to find me around this area at night. I'll explore some more. Who knows? Maybe someone that knows of the heart is here."

After parting ways, the boy walked to the house, unaware that there was another presence following him. As he opened the wooden doors inside and observed the massive hole on the roof from inside, he found… someone. He didn't know what to make out of them, but if they had caused the hole, he was at a loss. Could the person before him fly? Had they crashed down from the skies? And why was their hair so spiky?

A wild mane of chocolate blades that acted as hair adorned a round, childish face that had yet to hit puberty, though he wasn't one to talk. The body was that of a child his age, clad in a red onesie which pants only covered the knees, massive yellow shoes for the feet, a black jacket with short white sleeves, and fingerless gloves. He inspected the kid's chest, a crown necklace hanging on it with a silver chain.

"Ugh…" the brown haired kid grumbled, opening blue eyes and trying to get up on thin but very strong legs, "What… Who are you?" he finally took notice of Naruto.

The other blue-eyed boy squatted near the other fourteen-year-old, squinting his eyes at him, "I should ask that, but…" he looked at the kid's clothes, "Guessing by your attire, I'm guessing you're not from here."

"Yeah…" he stood up and shook his head, "Where am I?"

"Near my kingdom." Naruto said, smirking at how cool it sounded, "Name's Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki. Current king of Opar."

"You're a king?!" the brunet asked in shock, staring at him with a baffled expression on his face, "I must say, you don't look much like one."

"I can say the same about you." The blond replied, arms crossed, "Now tell me, who are you and what're you doing here?"

"I'm Sora, and I'm looking for my friends." The kid replied as he stood up, showing he and the blond were the same height, "There's two, the loudest one is Don…"

Tilting his head to the side at the bizarre pause had the shinobi ask, "Are you okay, Sora?" he didn't mean to sound concerned, but the boy didn't seem like a bad kid, far from it actually.

Shaking his spiky head, Sora gathered his thoughts, "Sorry. There's two. A girl named Kairi and a boy, Riku."

"They don't ring a bell." Was the future dark king's reply, "Why don't we-"

Cutting in with a sharp gasp, Sora tackled the blond, "Watch out!" he cried, taking both down on the ground as something big passed over their heads.

Upon getting up, the two boys were face to face with a ferocious and very large leopard, a normal one. However, with one look they could tell it was intelligent and dangerous. Its vicious eyes and the sheer ferocity it emanated with its every breath made it look like an embodiment of evil. It looked like nothing but a beast set on destroying and devouring everything in its path, and both boys summoned their weapons to fight.

Sora gasped, "You have one too?!"

"You got to be kidding me…" Naruto deadpanned as he watched Sora's weapon, a massive key.

There was no time to think when the leopard roared and jumped at both. Naruto side-stepped the charge and Sora brought up his Keyblade to block a claw swipe. To the brunet's credit, he managed to stop the hit, at the cost of getting knocked back, skidding on his feet to a halt. The leopard roared again and leapt to one of the wooden beams supporting the house's ceiling, growling lowly at both boys.

But since it was a leopard… "What're you doing?" Sora asked when seeing the blond lower his stance.

"Just seeing if something works." The other boy replied and spoke firmly to the animal, waving a friendly hand at it, "Yo." Sora slapped his face, "This is your king talking, take a knee."

The leopard roared and jumped down to topple him. Reacting quickly, the whiskered boy rolled out of the way and watched the large feline land on the floor with its claws out, Sora asking, "What were you even doing?!" he couldn't even try to accept what he just saw as something rational.

Naruto twirled his sword once and got into a defensive stance, "I command many like her, well, only taller and more obedient."

Sora blinked, "It's a she?"

Naruto turned to him, just as confused, "Out of everything I said, that's what you're asking?" then he groaned, "I just… noticed it when she attacked you."

Roaring again, the female leopard interrupted him and jumped right at the brunet after seeing he wasn't as agile as the blond. In response to that, Naruto held his Keyblade like a javelin over his head and threw it, knocking her off the air. The leopard let out a pained roar as the sword sunk into her back, draining her energy and making it Naruto's. Sora was shocked by what he saw, but saw his golden opportunity. Taking aim with his complete sword, the brunet shot a fireball from the tip, getting the large feline right in the face.

Another pained roar echoed in the treehouse for Sora got her in the face, blinding her with embers. She started to shake around, trying to make the blade on her back fall off while using her paws to get the sooth and embers off her face. Naruto called back his Keyblade and jumped at her, deepening the wound on her back with a swift slash. Sora was glad to have someone as fast as his current companion to strike the larger than average leopard, for he had plenty of time to rush at her and – despite having a large key – cut into its side.

Sora had enough strength to knock her down, and both boys remained still for a moment, waiting for a response while the brunet tried to catch his breath. Naruto wasn't as winded, but he could tell it was because he didn't crash through a ceiling. However, the whiskered boy's eyes were fixed on the leopard, feeling on edge despite the fact it remained there, unmoving.

"Let's get out of here." Sora said and turned around, right when Naruto saw the leopard's eyes snap wide open.

However, before he could even warn Sora, the leopard opened her maw and dashed at him, maw open and claws out… Before Naruto pivoted on his heel, his fist slamming into the cat's cheek and sending her flying back. Colliding painfully with a tree, the female leopard hissed angrily at them after she regained her bearings before fleeing.

"No! Bad Tora! Bad!" He said on reflex, shaking his head rapidly, removing painful memories of that damned demon cat from his mind.

"Tora?" Sora asked the blond curiously.

Naruto coughed as he turned around to reply, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head, "Long story, but Tora is the name of a cat from the village I come from. Damned little monster."

As if she heard him, the leopard roared at them. Reacting quickly, Naruto had a plan so stupidly absurd that he knew it could work. Grabbing Sora with one hand by the shoulder and using the other to summon his incomplete sword, the blond smashed a hole on the ground and jumped down, ignoring the brunet's cries. Seeing them try to escape, the leopard raced at them but showed intelligence by stopping near the hole. There was a net down, making a proper safety measurement in case a loose floorboard gave in, and she easily deduced it was where they had jumped to.

Squatting to get all the momentum needed to catch up to them, she jumped to go after the duo… a mistake she'd regret, "Fire!" Sora shouted while he clung to Naruto, who was standing on a support beam.

The shot sent her crashing down on the net, where she rolled around and ended up tied up, making Naruto sigh in relief, "She won't give much trouble now." He said before jumping down along Sora.

The brunet approached her, "Do we let her be?"

Naruto stared at the big feline's eyes, filled with primal rage and nothing but the instinct to hunt shining in the green orbs, "I know that look… She'll come after us no matter what, until not even our bones remain." Bringing up his Keyblade, he stared at her once again, locking eyes before swinging the blade down.

Sora averted his eyes, mentally preparing his ears, but he didn't hear a sound other than that of the blade cutting the air, "Is it over…?" he asked, looking at the blond, gasping a surprised breath when seeing the other boy keeping his Keyblade inches from the female leopard's neck with his eyes locked with hers. The nearly man-sized feline stood still, frozen before the blond.

"I can see you're smart." He told his enemy, keeping the blade inches from her neck, "If you ever cross me again, I will make a fine coat out of you."

With that said and done, he cut the rope, setting her free to watch her leave along a surprised Sora, "Why didn't you kill her?"

Sighing, Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Guess I have a soft spot for animals." He was being honest, after all, a gigantic snake once ate him and he tried to bribe it with a rice ball. Since that quite obviously was a waste of time, he tore through it more out of need than because he wanted the animal dead.

Both put away their swords and looked around, "I can see why you're a good king. So… is your kingdom nearby?"

Pondering on what Sora said and definitely was, Naruto had to keep a straight face, "I can guide you there, yes. But if you're looking for your friends I can lend you a hand as long as you can accept some conditions."

"Name them!" Sora was definitely desperate to find his friends.

The blond put a hand on his chin, taking a moment before replying, "Let me consider this with my subjects, and just make sure not to start a fight."

 **WILL**

 **YOU**

 **BEFRIEND**

 **YOUR**

 **ENEMY**

 **OR**

 **FOOL**

 **THEM**

 **? ? ?**

Deep in Opar, in a hidden library only the former queen was allowed in, said young woman was examining several scrolls, "To make a creature of darkness endure light, what could be missing?" she pondered aloud, internally struggling not to think of what reward she could get from her king, "I got to make this work, then maybe my king will finally get bored of that boorish gargoyle bitch, look me in the eye and take me…"

"Uh…" a voice started to say, completely ignored by her.

La giggled as pink crept on her cheeks, "He can be savage but is oh so dominant… I bet he'd rip off my top, pin me down on the bed, yank my bottom with his teeth and then… Or I could teach him. He does seem a bit inexperienced, so it should be me on top. I could gently push him down on my throne, caressing that sculpted chest of his, slide down that robe, before unclasping my top to reveal my upper self to him. He'd be stunned but willing to continue, and then I'd tell him to remove the rest of our clothing and tantalizingly sit on his loyal lap for-"

A squeal made the leopard men outside feel uncomfortable while their queen's hips swayed from side to side at the thoughts crossing her not so pure mind. It was short-lived, as a redhead woman with a fire-like hairdo, a body to die for, sharp eyes, and the same rags a certain gargoyle wore appeared behind her. The redhead didn't seem amused at all, and as La nursed a lump on her head, the woman spoke firmly.

"If you're done with your juvenile fantasies, I came here to see you after you summoned me." Demona growled under her breath. "Not to hear you act like a foolish maiden in heat."

La scoffed, "I would at least serve our king in a more useful way. As for you, I called you here for this." She threw a scroll over a table, making Demona quirk an eyebrow, "Making new leopard men, or even leopard women, is an ancient art that hasn't been lost to time like this city. If you're wondering how this relates to you, it's simple. Maybe this spell can help you change forms at will with the right extra ingredients."

Demona widened her eyes in surprise, "What do you mean?! You better not lie to me!" her surprise turned into anger when recalling who she was talking to.

La smirked smugly at her, "I do not. After all, I want my king to have the best of the best, and having you slow him down would not be that. Thus I am here, working for his sake…" and, while she internally screamed to not say what she was to say, she used her will and devotion to her king to try to be nice, "…and because he sees something deep in you."

The gargoyle was at a loss, "What do you mean?"

"He is someone that can see something worthy of living in the likes of us, shunned by the light." She spat her words, "We, born from darkness, are hunted to near extinction. Being a dark child does that to you, but it helps to find like-minded individuals. However, I help you because you were someone he took in. Whatever the reason may be."

Demona snarled, "Humans are all alike, even hunting down their own kind if they think – without any rational way to reach to a conclusion – that someone's different than them. Trust me, I want to see what the boy means with giving those unworthy of justice a fate worse than death."

La smiled, "It should be glorious." A mental picture appeared in her mind of her king, bare-chested, aiming his sword down at other women, "He could make those princesses of heart regret their life and claim them, but then, he'd call for his most loyal consort to make them see what they couldn't hope to become. That they would never be as close to him as that one consort who he'd take on his throne before those bitches…"

Demona stepped back, "I'll remind you that he's still a cub."

La sneered, though looked away with a blush, "I know, but he will grow. He will be ripe sooner or later, and with the power of darkness we could become truly immortal, ruling over all for all eternity…"

"Perhaps… That is of no matter to me at the moment; but, what we should discuss however, is what to do with the Keyblade wielder of light. He could one day pose a threat to the boy." Demona ventured, her expression unreadable, and her eyes cold. La slowly lifted a hand to her face in thought, her expression one of contemplation.

With a snap of her fingers, she motioned for the leopard men to approach her, "Bring the Keyblade boy to Opar… But treat him as our guest. Find him and our king. I will welcome and await Naruto in my personal chambers. Tell me first when he arrives." Queen La ordered, the leopard men doing as she commanded.

Demona knew what was in the queen's mind, "You and I know the boy may try to recruit this child, but what if he finds opposition?"

Queen La smiled wickedly at her, "I'll find ways to be more persuasive…" with that said, she settled onto her throne for the time being, her arms draped over its surface while she looked more relaxed. Demona on the other hand, clutched her scrolls tightly, settling into a dark corner of the throne room to pour over their words and script. And so Naruto's right and left hand awaited his return.

As for the king himself…

"Have I ever mentioned I hate bugs? Like, I _really_ hate bugs." Naruto mentioned offhandedly to Sora as they both sliced their way through vines and jungle creepers, trying to find their way out of the muggy place. Having fought off a giant army of bugs, including horrific looking leeches and gigantic crickets, the two young men were dripping in nasty green ichor and fluids best left unmentioned.

"Are you sure you know where to go?" Sora asked.

"Ruling over one city doesn't mean I know every single detail about this world." He sighed, moving a hand over his head to keep his hair slicked back, "Besides, I have something important to do before I leave, which is why I'm having you visit my city."

Sora was intrigued, "What is it?"

Naruto grinned, "Well, I want to keep this world safe from anyone who'd try to take it, for that I need you to do me a favor. I'll…" he stopped himself and looked at Sora and his Keyblade still in his grip, thinking how the news could affect him, "…explain it to you later."

"Why not now? What are you hiding?" Sora was a curious innocent lad, but even he could tell something was fishy.

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto tried to find a proper answer, "I will help you find your friends first." He applauded himself internally.

Sora was ecstatic, "Really?!"

With that out of the way, Naruto felt relief, "Sure, one of my subjects should be able to come up with something. If not her, then the others can search around this jungle to find them."

"What is your kingdom like, then?" Sora asked, looking around, "Judging by your attire and this place, it must be really different than this jungle."

"You'll be… surprised." Naruto tried to be as honest as he could, "I'll just remind you, please try to remain calm, and let me do the talking when needed. My subjects will be… quite surprised seeing you."

Sora smiled and nodded, "Sure. Heh, it's nice to have a king as a friend."

That made Naruto nearly stop walking, "Friend?"

Sora beamed, "Yeah, you're helping me a lot, you're a great friend."

Putting a hand on his chin, the blond sighed, "I never had anyone call me that before."

"The life of a king is that hard?" Sora pondered on it, "I get it that it may be harsh given the fact you look to be my age."

"I'm more of a crownless king so far." Naruto answered with a faraway look in his eyes, "At the point I am now, it doesn't feel like I'm accomplishing anything… There are so many things I have to do, and many crazy bastards that need to be judged before…"

"Hey." Sora was right on his face and when Naruto was surprised to see him turn serious, he got an even bigger surprise when the boy smiled in a goofy way and tapped his forehead with the back of his hand, "Don't think on it too hard. If that fight was anything to go by, you're the kind of guy that can be a great king. You're king to strangers and even those that may hurt others but aren't necessarily evil."

Naruto looked up, "Yeah, but there are those that don't deserve that kind of mercy. I know that too well now… at long last."

Sora would've worried, but he decided to wave it off, "Sounds to me you need a hand." He grinned when a confused blond looked at him, "Don't worry, if you have trouble, I can help you. After all, if you really want to protect the worlds, just know you'll have me ahead of you."

Naruto chuckled, his mood brightening, "Is that a challenge?"

"Afraid so, pal." Sora replied with a cheeky grin, "Besides, I can tell you aren't that bad, but it seems like you got a lot in your mind. If I can be of any help, count me in."

The blond was at a loss… he could only smile and be grateful to have such a friend. However, he knew that such a thing may not happen if all cards were on the table.

When he recovered, he had one thing to say, "Then, let me welcome you to my kingdom as a friend, Sora."

 **WILL**

 **YOU**

 **MAKE**

 **HIM**

 **AN**

 **ALLY**

 **OR**

 **A**

 **PUPPET**

 **? ? ?**

 **XXXXXX**

And that's my rap!

Some of you may be surprised Naruto didn't kill Sabor, but it has a point, I promise. He has to grow and expand as a king, after all. As for Sora… Well, some of you suggested I make him a girl, and while that is a very tempting idea, I'm not sure if it'd work. For now, I want to do something slightly bittersweet: having Sora and Naruto try to be friends. What say you, guys?

Swordslinger out!


	5. To be a ruler

I OWN NOTHING

Whether I am mad or serious I know that all I am is a guy trying to have a fun time writing stories to enjoy himself. With that said, take everything you will see here as someone putting a little effort into having fun.

 **WARNING** : What I'll do here is entirely my own choice after contemplating your suggestions. I won't change this, and if you aren't happy with this decision then remember this is a story I write for fun, nothing else. In this story, Naruto will have to do necessary evils to get things done, but I don't want him to basically become another Sasuke. I want him to be a protagonist we can root for.

Also, some of you showed interest in Sabor turning into a leopard woman. If you're interested what that'd be like, think of Cheetara from Thundercats.

 _ **Beta's notes**_ : Hey gang, it's The Lord Of Pages here. I was responsible for doing the bulk of the design work for Sabor and helping my big bro The Swordslinger create her. So if you want to blame anyone for making a monster girl Sabor, blame me. Other than that I also helped with a lot of the dialogue, and helped him iron out ideas for what to do and where to go with Sora and Naruto. We hope you like what we wrote, and I hope he doesn't beat me too hard before shoving me back into the Naughty Box. Until next time, so long, farewell, see you soon!

 **XXXXXX**

 **YOU**

 **ARE**

 **A**

 **KING**

 **WITH**

 **NO**

 **NEED**

 **FOR**

 **JESTERS**

 **LIKE**

 **HIM**

To say his guest was shocked was an understatement, "This is your kingdom?!"

Upon arriving to Opar, Sora was shocked by the city, and even more when a single hand gesture from Naruto stopped the leopard men from attacking them, "None of you will harm him while he's my guest." He told the feral warriors, who bowed to him before the blond turned the other Keyblade user, "Sorry about that, they are quick to attack any intruder they find."

"At least you didn't send them to cut off my head…" Sora whispered, which Naruto heard and earned the brunet a confused glance, "Long story."

"We got time until we reach my throne room." The blond replied, "And plenty enough for me to talk to my consort to help you."

Sora blushed, "Wow, you have consorts?!"

Naruto – unaware of what he said – nodded, "She's incredibly beautiful and intelligent. It wasn't easy to win her over, but she's loyal to me and I feel, deep down, that she's good."

The brunet whistled, "Man, you sure sound lucky." He chuckled meekly, "Truth be told, I don't have any sort of luck with this girl I like… I want to, but it's hard to tell her."

Crossing his arms, Opar's new king pondered on his friend's words, "Kairi, right? Sure sounds like you're fond of her. Listen, tell you what, if I can help in any way at all, I'll find her for you. Just be warned, I'll expect you to listen to some demands of mine first."

Sora stared at the whiskered boy quizzically, "You're talking of this deal quite a lot without giving me anything. Can't you just give me a hint?"

Sighing, the dark king shook his head, "I'd like to, but I want to talk to my consort first and see what to really talk about. I'm not sure about several things, though…" he smiled genuinely, "I do mean what I say about being a friend to you."

Rubbing the back of his head, Sora snickered, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you have feelings for me."

Laughing felt almost alien to Naruto, but it was welcomed. He had never been with many people to talk to in a friendly way. He did see how some people interact, but at best what he had was talking to the Ichiraku family and the Third. To talk to someone his age like they were just normal kids was a very welcomed change of pace. The blond was still a smartass, and just like how he mocked the likes of Zabuza and Neji…

Naruto gave him a cheeky grin, "Well, with a wig and a dress, who knows what guy could resist you?"

Sora was quick to reply, "Hey, at least I got some muscle!" he showed his stick arms did have some muscle marking them, "Give these babies a few more years of hard training, and bam!"

The blond grinned widely, "Heh, if that's the case, then I'll be glad to give you a good match and see if that's not just talk there."

Sora returned the cheeky grin, "Then I shall see you're really up to being king and not just a boasting jester."

Just the fact he was talking to someone like an equal was amazing in itself, and while the blond wanted such a thing to never end, he could see his throne room drawing closer. Steeling himself, albeit reluctantly, he guided Sora forward. Once inside the throne room, the brunet was amazed by the pillars, the red carpet, the oil lanterns, and the throne. But he was mostly surprised by the king's obvious consort.

"She's your consort?" Sora whispered to his new friend.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, though she seems busy."

Indeed, La had her back turned to them, mulling over some scrolls in her hands, so Sora asked, "Given the fact you're surrounded by these leopard men, I thought you… Uh…"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "I guess I will get that a lot, but don't worry. La's as human as you and I, and she's quite capable with magic. Maybe she can give us a hand to find your friends."

Hearing her king draw closer, the still active ruler of Opar turned with a loving smile, "My lord, you've come back! I've good news about my progress to help…" her mouth remained open, her smile was still in place, but her sentence ended as she gazed at the other boy, "Who… is this?"

"Sora, this is La, queen of Opar and my consort." The dusky skinned beauty felt herself die and be reborn in the same second, "And La, this is Sora, a... friend of mine."

"M-My lord!" she held one of her reddening cheeks while trying to keep her eyes on the other Keyblade warrior, "You brought one of the warriors from the light here… Why would you bring such a… guest?"

"I want to see if I can make a deal with him." Naruto replied, "Finding his lost friends for a favor."

La nodded before motioning to her king to come closer, "I shall see what I can arrange, but we should talk about my progress… in private."

Sora got the hint, "Oh sure, take your time." He put his hands in his pockets and looked around.

Seeing that his guest would get bored, Naruto spoke to his servants, "Hey, leopard men, treat Sora as you would do me. Bring him food and show him a good room to rest."

The brunet was surprised but thankful, "Really?! You're great! Thanks!"

As the leopard men did as told and the queen and their new king were left alone, La had to be very vocal with her thoughts, "My lord…"

He nodded curiously but wary, "Yes?"

She grabbed his shoulder with a hand and forced her smile as she looked him in the eye, "Have you lost your mind?!"

Having expected the reaction, Naruto wasn't too shocked, though he was still amazed that she managed to scream at the top of her lungs without Sora turning his head, "I know it's crazy since he's got a Keyblade of light, but-"

She grabbed him by the shoulders and put her eyes inches from his, "My lord, that kid and his kind are your most lethal, most dangerous enemies! I know you've got a good heart despite being the future conqueror of all worlds, but I wish to know if you're about to stab him in the back!"

Chuckling a bit, he looked away, "Uh, no."

La massaged her face with a hand and with the other made him look her in the eye before she replied, "Then what is it that you want to do? Will you turn him into a proper servant? Force him to submit to you…? Actually, I swear I have seen a spell for changing someone's gender, so you could-"

"No, you're not listening." He grabbed her hands and put them down, "I want to see if I can make him my friend, make him see my reason for doing what I do. If he thinks I'm a tyrant that must be stopped, that may as well be it. However, I promised him to find his friends, and if there's one thing I truly hate is not keeping my word."

She growled but could see he wouldn't change his mind, "And how do you plan to do this convincing? Bringing back his friends only to tell them you have plans to claim all worlds, theirs included, won't end well."

"That's something I'll deal with when I get to it." He answered firmly, though not as much as he wanted, "I'd rather have his respect first rather than acting like the kind of ass that thinks everyone owes him their life to help him with his goals."

"But why go to such lengths?" his servant queen asked.

Taking a deep breath, he was as sincere as he could, "One that I thought was an ally did so. After trying and failing to save him, he tried to kill me to obtain power. After seeing that kind of attitude, I want to be nothing like him. I don't want to force Sora or anyone like it's their duty to pay me back, I want to at least be able to show everyone that I'm not doing this selfishly, and I really want to help him."

She felt herself blush at his kind words, but had to ask, "But what about Demona and I, you did beat us."

"I gave you a choice." He answered, "I won't stop you if you want to leave, but I'd like your help. That's why I'm hoping that you helping her can get her to be more at ease with us. She's… someone I feel that I can reach out to, so I got to try."

"And me, your… consort?" she asked with a deeper shade of red.

He smiled, "If there's anything I can do to make you happy, I'd be glad to do so."

Her cheeks were burning hot, so she turned around and giggled like a schoolgirl as he stared confusedly, "N-No need to do so, my lord! This one's happy servicing you already… I mean, being of service to you!"

' _Weird as she can be, she's nice_.' He thought to himself before speaking, "Listen, if there's a way to find Sora's friends, I'm all ears."

Nodding and trying to control herself, the queen politely answered, "There is a way to do so, and perhaps…" she thought on the boy that was led away by the leopard men, "I could kill two birds with one stone. That boy is blessed by the light, meaning there's a chance I could have that gift he got since birth for Demona."

Growing worried by the sound of that, Naruto asked, "This won't hurt him, will it?"

She chuckled, "After what you told me, I'd hate to make you unhappy, my lord. No, he will be unharmed. However, side-effects may happen. Who knows? Maybe he'll turn into a gargoyle for the rest of his life."

"Are you serious?!" he asked in shock, "Then why don't you use me? Surely, I can be of use too, right? And being a gargoyle doesn't sound so bad." He thought how cool it'd be to glide around.

Shaking her head, La explained, "No can do, my lord. You and the gargoyle are children of darkness. It would have no effect. To help her, we need someone blessed by the light to share their gift. The ability to bathe in the light without turning to stone or grow weak under sunlight."

He thought out loud, "Now that you mention it, I feel more at ease when I'm in the dark…"

"And thus we need someone blessed by light, and someone like your new friend is the ideal candidate."

Taking her words and letting them sink, he turned to her with a serious gaze, "I shall discuss this with him and see what he thinks. Thank you, La. I will find a way to reward you for your help, I promise."

La blushed as the thoughts she had of a reward involved her king nude under her bed's sheets.

 **IS**

 **YOUR**

 **DESIRE**

 **TO**

 **BECOME**

 **A**

 **CONQUEROR**

 **OF**

 **WORLDS**

 **AND**

 **HEARTS**

 **? ? ?**

"Wait, are you kidding?!"

Naruto expected that kind of reply while he and Sora stood on a bridge over a river, watching the lost city. The blond king leaned on the stone rail, resting on his back, while his brown-haired friend stared at him. It was obvious that telling him the plans to help Demona would make the Keyblade wielder chosen by light reluctant to listen. However, Naruto was a stubborn one, and he wouldn't give up that easily.

"It's for the sake of someone whose trust I want to earn." He answered the brunet as he got up and approached him, "Besides, think on it. If you do this for me, La will have more time to look for your friends."

Looking around, Sora tried to think of anything to say, "But you said I could become a gargoyle, and who knows what else could happen if that is one side-effect?"

"I'll give you that, but please think on it." Naruto tried to be polite though he didn't implore, "The person I want you to help is someone I can see pain in. Her eyes are always filled with anger and sorrow. It's like a bad joke where she's forced to lead a life she didn't choose. That's why I'm asking you this not as a king but just some guy that cares for someone who could be a good friend. Help me give her a chance."

Perhaps it was the way he spoke, but Sora could tell there was a sincerity in him so heartfelt that he couldn't ignore him, "If I survive to regret this after something awful happens to me, you will owe me a favor."

"Just one?" Naruto questioned, perplexed. Seeing Sora nod, he responded, "Well then, name it."

"You'll find Riku and Kairi and make sure they're safe."

Giving him his word wasn't hard, "I'll bring them back home with you no matter what."

Witnessing Naruto's honesty put Sora at ease once again, so he took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Alright then, what do I need to do?"

At the blond boy's throne room, Sora was standing beside Demona in her human form, the gargoyle glaring at the boy but mostly at the king, "Are you sure this will work? To think I owe him for this is painful."

La sat cross-legged between the two, the leopard men spreading paint in circles around the two, "It's the best I got, so don't move or say anything that could have some horrible changes like switching bodies."

"Are you sure this'll work?!" worry was all over Sora's face when he turned to ask that.

"We shall see." La replied before taking her staff and putting it on her lap, the jewel glowing, "Heart of this world, heart of this jungle, hear my call. Power from the winds, the earth and the sea, come to my aid. The fire in the soul and heart united as a whole…" her body started to emanate green energy, "Allow blessings of the sun and moon to be shared by all!"

Sora and Demona stared dumbfounded while Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Is that… it?"

And he was soon blasted back with an explosion of green energy that rocketed him back to his throne, where he watched the events unfold. Sora and Demona were coated in dark green energy, oozing white fire from their eyes. La's hands were up, aimed at the two and connecting her own energy to theirs. Naruto watched pillars of green energy form around the two, and soon he heard a loud ripping sound as Demona's skin turned darker, her tail sprouted out, and her wings flapped in the day's warm air.

"I… It's working, I can feel it!" Demona started to cackle as she admired her claws and the sun sipping in.

However, not all could be that happy, "Wait, something's wrong!" La cried, grunting as she looked at Sora, "This boy… there's too much light in him… It's like he has three pure hea- Ah! My king!"

Everyone was too shocked to move in case they could mess the spell, but after seeing La's body shocked with a bright light like she was zapped by lightning, Naruto acted and ran to her, "What do I do?!"

She struggled but managed to speak through the pain, "Give me your strength and darkness, help me balance his power!"

Needing not another word, he placed his hands on La's shoulders and then Sora, with complete horror, saw a dark shadow pop from Naruto's back and take form, "Is he a…?"

He had no time to finish his question when he felt a sharp tug on his chest, making him fall to his knees. Demona watched it all in amazement as the green energy turned purple, burning like a dark fire while Naruto's body oozed darkness. The gargoyle and former queen of Opar watched the Guardian on Naruto's back embrace the king and La in a nearly loving manner.

"I see, he's loved by darkness, and he in turn loves not only the dark, but even has the tenderness the light claims to possess…" she whispered in amazement.

A brief flash of pink emanated from Sora's chest, and Naruto felt something pulling him towards it, "I feel it… There's someone crying for help, to reach out… Go!" he commanded his Guardian, who flew at the boy and, much to everyone's shock but Naruto's, punched the brunet's chest so hard that it pierced right through.

And, to their increasing shock, including Naruto's, the Guardian pulled out a pink, glowing gem in the shape of a heart, "Is that my… No, it's…" Sora gasped and tried to grab it, "Give it back, that's Kairi's heart!"

"Kairi?!" Naruto asked, but at that moment La's body had given in, and the former queen fell unconscious, and with him resting his hands on her shoulders he also fell down.

Demona and Sora followed suit, for the spell's energy that had run through their bodies finally hit them like a hangover. Naruto was quick to sit up and cradle the barely conscious La in his arms while Demona grunted to get on all fours. Sora was lucky to fall on his ass, so he propped himself up with both elbows and looked at Naruto, and his Guardian holding a heart.

Sora narrowed his eyes, "Was this all a trick to take her heart? Did you know about it? What do you want with Kairi's heart?" he pushed himself up with his Keyblade and a glare.

Once he had set the exhausted La down, Naruto mimicked him, "Trust me, I'm as surprised as you, but my word still stands." He nodded at his Guardian, which surprised Sora by handing him the glowing heart, "My exact words were to give you back your friends, and that's at least a step forward."

Sora grabbed the heart, staring as it floated inches over his palms, "Kairi… So she was with me the entire time."

"How did you know it was her?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I just… do." Was Sora's reply, "I'd never mistake her for anyone."

"Then what do you plan to do?" Naruto asked, worried, "If you bring that heart with you, who knows what could happen to it? And if you do find her body, what do you plan to do with a heart in your pockets?"

Sora grit her teeth but answered firmly, "I'll just find a way to fix her, no matter what!"

Naruto nodded, he could see that he and Sora were alike, both were stubborn, "Then let me keep my word by making sure it's safe."

"What?!" Demona and a suddenly awakened La shouted as they sat up.

Naruto sighed, "Listen, I gave my word. I can't really bring Kairi back half-way, and I do want to be friends with you, Sora."

Demona scowled, "Stubborn boy, he's your enemy! You should have destroyed him when he lost his use!"

Naruto glared at her, "Isn't making him my friend a way to destroy my enemy?" he turned to Sora, "I don't want to fight you and really want to be your friend, but you'll have to trust me on this."

Sora held the heart close, "How do I even know you're telling the truth? This… it all sounds too good to be true. What're you really after, Naruto?"

Sighing, Naruto walked to Sora, his incomplete Keyblade still in his hand, "The truth, then… I wish to be king of all worlds, to claim them as my own so no one can oppress anyone." Sora was understandably shocked by the declaration, "And if someone who is mad with power wants to control them or make their people suffer, they'll have to answer to me. That's my way… as future King of Darkness."

"You're just as mad with power!" Sora shouted, "What if they don't want you as king?!"

Naruto slammed the ground with his sword like it was a cane, "I want to protect those who deserve a chance!" he snapped, "Light, darkness, does that even matter?! When someone's born, they share a life with everyone else! There's people who take their own life for granted and harm another on a selfish whim! I want to be the king to stop that, to make sure that everyone who can earn a chance have it!"

Sora took a step back and shook his head, eyes closed, "Even if that were the case, you can't really expect me to stand aside if you plan on forcing yourself on everyone."

"Then I'll see if I deserve to be one…" Naruto clenched his fist, his Guardian vanishing, "I don't want to be at all like the people who took my life and your friends away from us. You have my word on that."

Staring at the blond, Sora shut his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw before, to everyone's surprise, extending the heart to give it back to Naruto, "Then, if we meet again, you'll really help me get Kairi back?"

Naruto's eyes hardened as he firmly answered, "If I can't keep this promise, then I'm not fit to be king, am I?"

"How do I know this isn't a trick?" Sora finally asked, narrowing his eyes but not really glaring.

"I won't stop you from taking the heart with you." Was Naruto's reply before he motioned for everyone to stand down, which they did.

"You won't… Will you?" Sora asked him quietly, his expression contemplative before he finally looked up and nodded. "Alright… Alright. I'll trust you. I don't have anything left to lose. Riku's gone. Kairi's gone except for her heart. I don't want to lose anything else. So I'll trust you." Sora said seriously, the boy gazing up at him with a nod.

Naruto smiled and his Guardian approached Sora with its hand stretched, where the boy put the heart, "Thanks, I won't-"

"But…" Sora started looking at Naruto in the eye, "If it comes down to it, if you do become no better than a Heartless, I will take her back by force."

Staring into the boy's strong eyes, Naruto nodded, "Thank you for at least giving me a chance." He gave Sora a bittersweet smile, "It's… the first time someone does that after knowing what I am. I mean it, thanks."

"My lord…" La started, worried.

He sighed and motioned at the leopard men, "Escort him and help him to find his friends, and tend to Demona and La until they're better, then we'll do what we must."

He didn't give the detail about taking the world's heart for himself, he didn't know how Sora would react to that.

 **WITH**

 **YOUR**

 **CHARISMA**

 **AND**

 **KINDNESS**

 **THERE**

 **ARE**

 **ALLIES**

 **OF**

 **GREAT**

 **POWER**

 **AWAITING**

 **TO**

 **JOIN**

 **YOU**

While La and Demona recovered from the rush of energy from the spell, and Naruto waited in his throne with some leopard men bringing him lunch, he expected an uneventful evening.

He certainly didn't expect to have the leopard men escort a humanoid female leopard, "You again?" he asked the feline, whose emerald-like eyes stared at him intensely in a familiar way.

"Yes. My king." The leopard was of a nature entirely different to her fellows, and clearly displayed a feminine form all her own, "I am known as Sabor, from now on I shall be yours to command."

Her skin possessed the black spotted fur of her species, but it was clearly adjusted to her new body. With a body that could put a super model to shame, she displayed a sleek and curvy appearance that spoke of an innate ability to dominate those around her with both beauty and strength. She possessed incredibly toned legs and biceps, as well as a flawless six pack stomach. However, her body possessed the spotted fur of her kind covering her very curvaceous humanoid form. Her chest and stomach were covered in white fur like the leopard men, though it was hard to ignore she had other more womanly assets.

Her arms and legs were bare, save for bronze bangles worn around her limbs, which possessed a curious fusion of paw and hand into one. Jagged black claws were kept sheathed in the palm of the figure's hands, and over her breasts and womanhood she wore a simple attire. A rag like cloth bikini that hugged her large and very shapely breasts, and a loincloth that flowed into a long sarong like dress in the front, which was exposed as a shorter skirt in the back. She was also walking barefoot, but her feet were those of a leopard, though aside from that her furred legs were mostly like a human woman's, and nicely shaped.

Her head had undergone the largest metamorphosis by far, having lost its feral state and most of its animal appearance. Her head appeared to be the halfway point between Queen La's own appearance and that of a leopard. A furred face with a mane of wild blonde hair that possessed black spots among its surface. It was clear however that Queen La had not merely shaped Sabor to be a copy of herself. Her features bore a far more brutal and feral countenance than Queen La's more aristocratic features, and it was clear by the very fact that her face bore no fat whatsoever nor had any flawless traits to it.

Her fur had hidden the fact that she had multiple scars running across her face, and her wild green eyes shone with a long experience born in the wild. She even had a feline's black button nose, long jagged feline ears atop her head with furred tips and two gold earrings in her left ear, and, behind her toned and deadly looking rear, a long tail. Said tail waved, with a golden jeweled ring over it.

La appeared, fully healed, "It is the first time a female leopard came to me and asked to become one of the servants of this city." She told her king as she stood close to him, glaring at the leopard, "This one's truly one of a kind. I've never seen a leopard like her. Despite being old for her kind when she first appeared before me, she's intelligent and the darkness in her could serve you well, my king."

Sabor got on all fours and crawled to Naruto, squatting before him, and making him blush by rubbing her face on his lap, nuzzling his thighs, "I serve to kill your foes. Whoever, wherever, and whenever you wish me to. I am yours my liege. You spared me for no reason but mercy, I will give everything that I am to you in exchange. Tell me who to kill, their bodies will drop and their blood will flow endlessly. I will rip out their hearts and offer them to you. Direct me in their direction and I will slaughter entire villages for you. I only ask, you allow me to watch you become the King Above All."

Sabor swore to him, her slit eyes gazing up intensely at his own as she gave him a wide fanged smile. "As expected of a good leopard warrior, loyal with their very life." La praised for her king to hear, but then whispered to herself, "Perhaps too loyal, I will have to make sure she knows her place."

"Sounds good." Naruto commented while still blushing, and put a hand on the feral woman's forehead to push her face gently off his lap with his best serious face, "Please get serious and just tell me if you know of this world's heart. Do you have any idea of what I'm talking about or where it could be?"

Sabor nodded and started to crawl around him, her tail wagging, "I do, my king. After all, I've been hunting a pack of gorillas back when I was just a mere leopard. I have heard them talk about such a place. Though bizarre as it sounds, their leader knows and even keeps such location safe."

Naruto groaned, "So a gorilla is who I need to talk to, how am I-"

La interrupted him gently, "My lord, I can speak the same language as animals. After all, the leopard men raised me. I can talk to any creature, and I can help you question this ape."

Smiling with a sigh of relief, Naruto leaned his head back, "Good. Then all we have to do is find this gorilla. Good job…" he patted her head like she was a domestic cat, even scratching her ears which made her purr, "Ok, this is a bit… awkward. I never really had a pet, or even got to pet a cat without getting scratched all over my face."

La decided to cut short Sabor's petting with narrowed, cold eyes, "My lord, do remember that I – as your consort – will do anything for your sake." She put a lot of emphasis on consort, "Give me the word, and I will hunt down this ape you need, torture him if needed, and even turned into a slave if it's your wish."

"No!" Naruto stopped her, a hand up, "If I am going to claim this world's heart, I need to earn it. Besides, taking things by force is the way a disgusting bastard did in my world." He growled at the memories, "Gato was his name, and he ruined every single life he came across for money and power. Just doing the same as him wouldn't make me a true king, and that is why I want to earn this world."

"But that child with the Keyblade could get ahead of you and seal it first!" La argued.

Naruto stood up and looked her straight in the eyes, making her shiver at the sheer aura of power that just seemed to appear out of nowhere to cover him, "What good is it to be king of this world if people will just resent me for it? I will show no mercy to anyone who doesn't deserve it, I promised myself that when I started this. However, I don't want to be cruel to those that don't deserve it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have you."

"M-My lord Naruto…!" Queen La uttered, her expression one of pure adoration and contentment until it grew furious.

Demona's footsteps made them turn around as she silently walked past La as a gargoyle. She was staring at the rising sun above their heads, one hand protectively blocking her gaze from its rays. The queen rose until Naruto silently put his hand to stop her. He silently placed a hand at Demona's shoulder, gripping it gently as she twisted her head to look at him, tears running down her eyes.

"This is what my race should've seen all these years… It's beautiful. A sun rise…" she wiped her tears as her rage boiled inside her with the intensity of hellish fire, "And those that abused the gifts of the light took our chances to see it away from us. They cast us into shadows and cursed us never to see the sun!"

"Will you help me make a kingdom where no one has to feel that way?" Naruto extended a hand to her, "It's your choice, but I wish to have someone as strong as you to help me make my kingdom a reality."

She shook his hand and smirked, "I'll follow you wherever you need me, may as well do so to keep you from doing anything foolish."

He smirked right back, "I should've expected that, but I'm not surprised. Now then…" he turned to Sabor, who was still in a squatting pose before him, "Take me to this ape."

 **EXPAND**

 **YOUR**

 **KINGDOM**

 **AND**

 **EXTINGUISH**

 **THE**

 **CRUELTY**

 **OF**

 **THE**

 **LIGHT**

As Sabor guided Naruto through the jungle with the boy once again using his sword as a machete to cleave through the thicker parts of the vegetation, they started to move into an area densely packed with trees. A brief look up, and they could see the leaves kept everything under a decent shade, giving it a slight homey feeling. And soon they found a massive three with roots all over the ground, and a trunk as big as a house.

He expected many things, resistance, animals running away from him or at the very least his more intimidating party members appearing, or curious looks. What he got was nothing of the sort. A man with a large chin, a yellow shirt, red scarf, brown pants and a sophisticated look with his black hair combed back and a well-shaved small mustache was there. On his hands was an artifact Naruto had never seen called a shotgun.

And behind him were two far more bizarre individuals that couldn't be native to the world he was visiting. Both of whom were around Naruto's size, with the bigger of the duo barely being a couple inches taller.

The shorter and least friendly looking was a duck not even three foot tall. He wore a blue beret fastened with zippers, a blue vest-tunic fastened with even more zippers, and gold bangles on each wrist. He had a white feathered body, two blue eyes that shone with intense emotions and aggression, and wielded a rod topped with a small mage hat and what looked like a small cloak, like a little wizard rested on it. He was currently tapping said rod against his side, glaring at Sora who looked extremely happy to see him.

The taller and more friendly of the duo was a dog, with an odd hat fastened with goggles, huge clownish shoes, a green under shirt with a black vest worn over it, and yellow pants fastened with a black belt. Though his confused face with two large teeth poking out at the sides made him look peaceful. In his hand was a large shield topped with that same symbol Naruto saw on Sora's sword, three circles forming a mouse head.

While the two odd ones in the picture had something deep inside Naruto feel – to best describe it – opposed to them being there, the obvious hunter gave all kinds of bad signals. The way he looked at Demona and Sabor like he was sizing their heads for his wall, and how he played with his shotgun's trigger gave the gargoyle and leopard woman the same impression. The other two became weary of the quartet and readied themselves for a fight. It was clear everyone had a judgmental first impression, so the one thing to do as a king was simple.

"I see you're lost in my jungle." Naruto said as casually as he could, though the effort could be seen by how he took a couple of seconds to put a hand on his hip to be even more forcefully casual, "It's the first time I meet anyone like you guys in my jungle. Who are you?"

The hunter chuckled, "Your jungle, boy? Sounds to me like you're taking a game too far with your lady friends. But alas, it'd be rude of me to not introduce myself to a native."

Seeing La was getting quite irate with the man's disrespect, Naruto put an arm in front of her to keep her from acting reckless, "I am king of Opar, and this jungle you're stepping in is just a part of my kingdom. If you wish to continue walking freely around these parts, I need to know you're not going to be trouble." He narrowed his eyes to tell them to comply or else.

The man bowed with a smile still in place, a facial expression that was a laugh away from being blatantly mocking, "The name is Clayton, lad. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Name's Goofy." The dog waved.

"Donald Duck." The duck added with his arms crossed and frown still in place, "And if you're king, tell us if you've found ours."

La didn't let anything stop her then, "Rude little bird! Are you just going to flap that beak of yours to insult my lord?!"

Sabor raised her rear, ready to pounce… and giving Naruto a view that had his cheeks heat up, "My king, I'm famished, am I allowed to devour that bird?"

Knowing what they meant, Donald's demeanor changed and he quickly scurried behind Goofy, who looked as if nothing happened, "Oh gee, I know he's a bit hardheaded, but do forgive my pal. He's worried about King Mickey, as I am."

Taking note of the dog's good attitude, Naruto decided to let it slide, "You at least I can approach. So, you're looking for your king." He looked up, "It seems a lot of people I find in this jungle are looking for someone."

Goofy grew ecstatic, "Have you found Sora?!"

"You know him?" Naruto was confused but then he recalled something he heard when he first met the boy, "Wait… Don… Donald?"

"Yes?" the duck asked, peeking out behind his larger friend.

"So it is you who he… seemed to look for." He did his best to word it.

And Donald still got mad, "Bah, that troublemaker is worse than one of my nephews on a sugar rush!" he quacked angrily, even stomping the floor with a webby foot, "If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be trapped here but still looking for the king!"

Goofy interjected, "But Donald, ol' buddy, we found that Gummi block. The king could still be here."

Opening his beak to argue but closing it reluctantly, Donald hung his head low in defeat and waved a gloved hand, "Fine, I'll give you that."

Snickering slightly at the display, Naruto spoke, "I can help you find your king so long as you can accept my terms."

Clayton, who had tried to be patient, stopped being silent, "Yes, well, I am sure it is a matter of importance for you, but I probably should go. After all, I was only escorting these two to safety. However…" he grinned, "It would be unlike a gentleman like myself not to offer you and your lady friends a cup of tea. Does black tea sound good? Please, come and talk to us, and maybe we can help you find these lost friends."

Naruto took a moment to think how to say no in a rude yet subtle way, ' _I can feel the pure darkness in his heart, like it's begging me to rip it out. This guy's nothing but selfishness. He's not as bad as Gato, but he's a close second. His ambitions, I can feel them. Is it because of my Keyblade? Still, I can't let him near Demona or Sabor._ '

He was going to reply, but Sabor approached him, "I smell the gorillas in him." She whispered to her king's ear, "He must be hunting them like I am, and I also smell the scent of one close to the gorillas in him. One who I know is of a strong heart. My king, let us go hunt them to find this world's heart. My claws and fangs are dying to sink into this man, but I can wait for you."

As the hunter, the knight and the mage stared at Sabor in confusion, Naruto had to come to a decision even if he didn't feel happy, "I don't want him close to you or Demona, but…" he walked forward and extended a hand, "I accept. After all, I'd like to talk to your friends about this king of theirs."

The man smirked, "Wonderful. After all, it's best to not walk alone in this jungle. Who knows what dangers lurk around?"

Naruto didn't need to see to know the man had a smirk on his face when he turned around to guide them.

 **YES**

 **! ! !**

 **A**

 **HEART**

 **RIPE**

 **WITH**

 **DARK**

 **DESIRE**

 **FOR**

 **YOU**

 **TO**

 **TAKE**

 **! ! !**

 **XXXXXX**

And that's my rap!

Sora and Naruto are sort of bitter allies. Naruto respects Sora for being kind to him despite being a denizen of the dark, and Sora acknowledges that Naruto's good deep down. They will, inevitably, come to blows, but as you and I know, Naruto's not the kind of guy to break a promise. He will keep Kairi safe. I will have some trouble writing this, but for the time being, this is what'll happen.

As for Sabor, think of her design as a mixture of Cheetara from Thundercats, Cheetah from DC's new Injustice, and Tigra from Marvel. Is it a furry thing to be attracted to them or am I too much into monster girls?

And if you're wondering, I won't say whether Kairi will remain in the harem or not, or what'll happen to Sora until much later when the time comes.

Swordslinger out!


	6. Hunting and preying

I OWN NOTHING

I felt oddly cheerful when writing a certain part that may as well just be random, but I feel too damn good to care about how serious it is.

 **XXXXXX**

 **HUNT**

 **FOR**

 **THE**

 **UNWORTHY**

 **AND**

 **SAVOR**

 **THEIR**

 **FEAR**

 **ONCE**

 **YOU**

 **END**

 **THEIR**

 **LIFE**

"To think we would find a king in the middle of this place is marvelous!"

When they arrived at a clearing in the middle of a field filled with bamboo sticks, Naruto expected many things at the place the hunter was taking him and the group. Large yellow tents were somewhere along the lines when he pictured a group camping. Crystal instruments the likes he hadn't seen before, a large clock, and an elegant tea set weren't one of it. People with an accent he had never heard before weren't too.

And he certainly didn't expect to see another pretty brunette, though he wouldn't complain when she heard of the news and introduced herself. At her side a balding man with a bushy white mustache, a noticeable gut, scrawny limbs, and short stature. He wore a pair of yellow shorts, a white shirt, and a blue bow tie. After getting Naruto's attention he served the boy and his companions as well as Donald and Goofy some tea.

"Where are our manners? I am Jane Porter, this is my father and it is a delight to meet you, Your Majesty." The lady wore a yellow polo shirt and green cloth as a skirt. Her long brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, and she had a reasonable amount of makeup on her face. She also possessed a figure that could give La some competition, though her pale complexion said she wasn't native to the jungle.

She bowed gracefully with her hands pulling her skirt slightly up so it didn't touch the ground, and while he felt tempted to bow, La showed him how to greet others, "Wave your hand up, my lord." She whispered.

Doing as told, he spoke, "Thank you for taking us in."

He got a curious look from her, "I must admit I didn't expect royalty in this jungle, let alone one as young as yourself, Your Highness. Oh dear, I hope I didn't offend you…" she let out a nervous chuckle while getting a set of stares from the boy's female servants that unnerved her, "It's just that I never expected to see such a group drop in."

"I can understand; I've been king for a short time." He gave her a calm smile to ease her worries, "Now that we're here, I have some questions I would like to make regarding what you're doing in my jungle."

"I can fill you in, dear lad." Spoke the young woman's father, Professor Porter, "I am a man of science, and my lovely daughter is my assistant. We came all the way here to study the lifestyle of the gorillas. Must I at least take some time and tell you what wonderful and curious creatures they are? Heh, sorry if I get a skip on my step, but now that I look at you all I feel my curiosity as a researcher dancing with joy!"

"You certainly look like it." Naruto said while the small man examined the leopard woman, the gargoyle, and even the blond.

"What kind of evolution did you partake to become humanoids?" he asked mostly to himself before turning to the king, "And to think a normal boy like you is king of them, hmm… Coexistence may mean that it is possible to find compatibility in our genes. Could you and your ancestors have shared blood with other beings to create such-"

Demona grabbed the man by his shirt's lapels, horrifying Jane and giving Clayton the excuse needed to aim his shotgun at her, "Talk like that again, saying I or my kind would just give our bodies like that, and-"

"Enough!" Naruto commanded with a roar, making Demona drop the small scientist. As Jane hurriedly pulled him away, Naruto spoke, "Demona, I know you're proud, but this old man didn't mean to insult you."

"Oh my, if I did hurt your pride then that was indeed not my intention!" the man waved his hands frantically, gulping.

Naruto then turned to Clayton, who still kept his shotgun aimed at Demona's head, "And you, put that thing down. I know Demona crossed the line, but she's one of my own. Harm her and I won't stand still."

The hunter lifted his shotgun, giving the boy a narrowed look that didn't seem to carry ill intent as if he were examining him, and holstered his weapon on his back, "Then allow me a couple of words. If you are her king, having her act like this before you, with others you're trying to talk, doesn't give good impressions. It's almost like she's – and I beg pardon for the expression – an animal without a proper leash."

Demona growled, readying her claws, but Naruto stopped her by firmly gripping her shoulder, "It's not worth it, and you do deserve it."

She snapped, "I deserve to be treated like a simple pet?!"

He snapped back, "No, you deserve being called on how you act! If someone acts like a monster, I'll say so! You, so far, just act like an overgrown brat who doesn't have their way!"

She held up her claws, but he was unafraid. And then she noticed something that surprised her; despite having shown her intent to fight him, the boy didn't lift his sword. The incomplete Keyblade was pointed down at the ground. She looked into his eyes, and while they were graced with the pure blue of those blessed by light, there was something in them that put her at an awkward ease. He was concerned about her.

While La and Sabor were ready to strike her, they were surprised when the gargoyle woman lowered her claws and looked away, "Fine… I owe you and your pets too much." Memories about how thanks to him she was able to be in the sun as a gargoyle resurfaced, however, her pride was still there, "But if one insults me directly and means it-"

"I'll be the first one they'll hear something from… that or get a decent punch to the face." He offered, even grinning a bit at the end. Seeing her nod, cross her arms, and walk away to a corner to stand idly there, he turned to the others, "Sorry about that."

"No need, lad, I should have worded myself better." The professor approached him and put a hand to his chin, "Is there anything we can do to help you? After all, I believe you have questions. We could give you a hand to solve a few problems, too."

Naruto nodded, "I recall you said you were studying gorillas." He tried to find a way of how to ask his next question without being suspicious, "Have you had any luck finding them?"

The professor's mood fell to the floor, and his daughter stepped in, "Sadly not… Though we've done a good job researching clues to their behavior by following their trails. They live in packs, for starters."

"Which makes it all the more dangerous if you get close to them." Clayton interrupted with a grin, "Those beasts would rip your head off alone, think what a bunch of them would do if they got close to you."

"I think we can deal with th-" Naruto offered before Sabor nudged him, more like a housecat than a hunting feline, "What is it?"

She whispered into his ear, "It's him, the boy you brought to our kingdom. He's near."

Seeing how Donald and Goofy were there and knowing that Sora may want answers about why he's hunting the gorillas, Naruto was quick to ask, "It seems we have to go. I…"

He chuckled, trying to think of a good excuse, "Indeed." La was quick to cover him, acting natural with a small smile, "Apologies, but my lord has to attend to his duties, and the trip back is quite long. However, if a gorilla really is such a dangerous beast as you claim, do you know where they tend to be so we can avoid them?"

Naruto nearly pumped a fist at La's ingenuity, "I'd say not a problem in any other circumstances." Jane started, sounding angry, worrying the group that she was catching on to them, "But I assure you that our proper research show that gorillas aren't as terrible as Mr. Clayton makes them out to be. They're like any other animal, they only fight when threatened."

She glared at the man, who merely chortled with a smirk, "Miss Porter, you fail to realize that to feel threatened an animal just has to see another or a different being."

"We wouldn't want to disturb them either way." La cut the argument short with a polite smile, "Besides, perhaps we can be of assistance by telling you of their whereabouts if we happen to find them."

"Sounds smashing." Jane liked the idea, although Naruto was confused about what smashing something had to do with what they were talking about.

 **FOOL**

 **THEM**

 **BEFORE**

 **THEY**

 **DECIEVE**

 **YOU**

As the dark party made his way through the jungle, Naruto was contemplating his next actions, "I really didn't like that Clayton guy. He looks as fake as that mustache of his." The young and rather small dark king crossed his arms in thought, "And I know you girls also hated his guts when we first saw him."

"What are you getting at, boy?" Demona asked impatiently.

"The nagging feeling at the back of my head that tells me he'll backstab them." Naruto summoned his Guardian, which held a certain heart for him, "And I know she wouldn't be happy if anything happened to Sora."

"You worry too much for that child, my lord." La started, hovering over his back, "Have you not seen what a weakness that is? If you were to fight, he'd be able to strike your heart."

Demona agreed, "Those who follow the light never hesitate to go in for the kill when it comes to our kind."

"You do have a point, and that's why I don't want to mess it up." He glared at nothing when a memory came to hunt him of someone literally striking his heart, "I'm not going to let my guard down. I just don't think Sora is that kind of guy. He's actually too nice for that."

"And that could be his downfall, so be careful not to make that mistake." Demona retorted.

He grinned, "If I did, I would never have this conversation with you girls."

All three blushed at his statement, Demona in anger and shame as she looked away, La with a smile she failed to contain by biting her lower lip, and Sabor merely stared at him, tail swishing and cheeks hot.

Just as Naruto was about to resume walking, something odd happened, the heart glowed, and he heard something, " _Huh…?_ "

And in a flash of light, he was in a lovely island. At the other side of the ocean was another with homes, but all around him there was nothing but palms, trees, a small mountain, and few wooden structures. As the events got more bizarre, he heard steps behind him. Swiftly turning around, he saw nothing except a palm tree and sand. However, a closer inspection to the sand revealed footprints.

Scratching his head, the boy looked around and approached the tree, "Alright." He started slowly, observing the blue sky and enjoying the cool breeze under the sun, "This isn't the weirdest that's happened to me. Hey, you behind the tree, just listen to me. I'm not going to fight you unless you give me a reason to, and trying to hide from me isn't going to get you points."

After giving the person behind the tree some time to think over his words, they stepped out to reveal themselves as a she. A very pretty and cute she, he mentally added. Short red hair cut in a mop around her round face, kind and lively blue eyes, and a good figure for a girl his age. She wore a purple skirt with a white top and matching shoes as big as Sora's.

"Hi…" she started, "Naruto, right?"

He was surprised, "How did you know my name?"

She snorted, "The future King of Darkness, everyone…" she saw him frown and regretted her words, "Sorry, I'm used to teasing my friends. Listen, I have been watching what you've done. After all, your shadowy bodyguard is the one holding my heart."

He connected the dots and was further surprised, "You're Kairi?" he took a step closer, examining her, "Well, I imagined that you'd be cute to have Sora all wrapped around your finger."

She grinned, "I'll take the compliment, kind sir." Then she stepped closer to him, "Now, I don't know how this happened or why. When you took me out something strong seemed to stir me, as if waking me up. Just so you know, I don't have any idea what it was. What I do know is that I need to talk to you."

He crossed his arms, "What about?"

"King of Darkness isn't a title everyone just gets." She explained to him, "Back home my grandmother told me stories, many. But there never was a King of Darkness. Most of the greatest evils in them only managed to be lords, never kings or queens. I remember only bits and pieces since I haven't seen my grandmother in a very long time. Though I know none of them ever dared to call themselves something like a king."

"Can you make it simple…?" he asked with a hand scratching the back of his head.

The girl took a step closer and her eyes took a firm expression, "You're different from them, greatly. Perhaps that's what you need to become a king. All I ask is that you never harm Sora, and I'll… help you."

He stared at her confused, "Help me for his sake?" he tried to look her in the eye, but she turned her gaze away.

"That's what I said." She stated firmly, "You will also keep him safe, and in return I can tell you of some things I know of and do whatever you need me to do."

Grabbing her cheek, he made her look at him, "Listen…" Kairi felt something odd shift, "I promised him I'd keep you safe. And seeing you act like this for his sake is… nice. Back in my world, a girl told me to help the one she loved even after he betrayed everyone in our village for power, and he tried to kill me. You know who and what I am and still risk yourself for Sora. I can't harm someone like you."

She blushed and put her hands to her chest, "So if what you're saying is true, then you should be helping Sora to-"

He raised a hand, "You and Sora are the people I'd have liked to have as friends the most if nothing like this had ever happened." He said sincerely before his eyes hardened, "But I know you will dislike many of the things I'll do. While I don't want to be as cruel as the people who ruined my life, I can't just stop now. I hope you understand."

Looking away again, she hugged herself, "I still offered to help you, so maybe you can think about it. Please, I can feel it too…" she put a hand to her chest, "There is light in you, so you could be-"

"You said I was different to those other kings." He retorted, "Did they ever try to become true kings for something other than themselves?"

She closed her eyes sadly, "Naruto..." thinking on it, she shook her head, "So you'd fight Sora if needed… Does that mean your promise to him was for nothing?"

"No." he replied swiftly, "If I must face him to end this madness with the worlds, the wars between light and darkness, I'll fight."

She stepped back, "What is your goal, then?" she felt both afraid and angry at the fact he was so determined.

"I want to destroy the fate many put on people like us." Naruto answered firmly, his hatred merging with his determination, "I don't want kids like us to live a life someone chose for them. I'm a demon to the people of my world because someone shrugged their responsibilities to me! They were praised as a hero while I was treated as a monster, so I may as well fight as one to achieve a dream of my own."

When dark energy pulsed around him, the redhead gasped and stepped back in fear. The sight of her frightened face had his heart sinking, the fear in her eyes as she avoided him was too familiar. But what he never expected was to have her hug him. Neither did he expect himself to hug the girl back, or feel her warm tears on his cheeks.

"I can feel it… this is your pain…" she whispered, surprised at her own actions, "Why am I feeling this? And how… how can it be so horrible?"

Naruto realized what was up, "I have your heart! While you're in my control, you are like a part of me… Dammit!" he growled, "Kairi, step away from me! This isn't something you can handle!"

With a mental command, his Guardian appeared and took the girl away, separating the two.

And with another flash of light, he heard Demona's voice, "I will give you that, boy."

Naruto looked around, confusing his companions, "My lord?" La asked, "Are you alright?"

He held his face with a hand to clear his thoughts, "I just… I was in a beach talking with someone."

"You have been here with us this entire time and not a second passed since that stupid quip of yours." Demona answered flatly.

Sabor, though, sniffed the heart still in the Guardian's grip, "Hmm…" she silently observed it with her green eyes, even as he put it away.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Naruto asked, "Alright, I'll explain it to you as we go find the gorillas."

 **BONDS**

 **WITH**

 **A**

 **PRINCESS**

 **OF**

 **HEART**

 **? ? ?**

As the group made their way over a waterfall by wall-walking, climbing with sharp claws or using magic to appear at the top, Naruto had informed his party members of what had happened.

"Interesting," Demona smirked, "a child of light begging for us to spare that boy in exchange for her services. It appears she doesn't have much hope for him, which shows his strength is laughable at best."

"He does have the Keyblade, which says something." Naruto replied and held up the girl's heart, "She knows what I'm doing, which surprises me."

"To conquer all worlds for you to keep them safe under your fist is quite admirable, my lord." La praised him with a sly smile, "Is it a wonder you win people over with such strong motivations and powerful will?"

"Seeing how some good people can act for cruel bastards, I wouldn't know." He answered softly.

Demona growled, "You're too soft, boy. When will you see that you need to stop trying to please everyone? You're supposed to be a king, not a rug for a simple girl who's also the enemy to step on."

He looked the gargoyle woman in the eye and fearlessly answered her, "Kairi has her reasons to risk her life with someone like me. And I know for a fact you were no different from her when we met."

She snapped, "What has that girl to compare her to me?!" Naruto mentally kicked himself for forgetting how touchy the redhead was when humans were around.

Thus, he answered swiftly and firmly, "You were ready to risk your life to achieve what you wanted." That made the gargoyle pause, "Sure, the methods and ideas are different, but at least none of you hide behind others to do your dirty work. Just like you trying to beat me or her risking her life working for me."

La chuckled amusedly, "He has a point."

The queen and gargoyle locked glares, but Sabor was more helpful to her king, "I found a trace, my king."

They ran after her as she dashed through the trees and bushes before going slower. After slowing to a crawl, literally, the party peeked over a bush to see the gorillas, and a massive one watching guard over them.

"That's Kerchak, no doubt." Naruto said and smiled before instinctively petting Sabor's head, "Good girl."

She purred and leaned her head into his warm palm, which La cut short with a jealous sneer, "Focus, my lord."

"Alright." He replied and observed the large apes, "How do we do this, though? Kerchak looks like he'd charge at anyone other than a gorilla and rip out their heart."

"Hold someone hostage." La and Demona answered in unison, and looked at each other in surprise before settling for glaring.

Pinching the bridge of his nose at their antics, Naruto took a deep breath, "Something told me you would say that."

"Think on it, my lord." La cut in, "If you try to win his trust, it wouldn't work. Animals can sense the darkness in humans better than others, it is why they tend to flee or attack them."

Sabor nodded, "I attacked you and that boy because you looked like strong prey, good to devour and enjoy after a good battle."

He turned to Demona, who spoke coldly, "Do you think they'll just trust you when you talk to them? Guardians of the Heart are beings chosen by their ancestors to guard the secrets of their world's heart. Some may be royalty like that beast, but there are animals with great hearts that keep the secret. When he identifies you as what you are, he will kill you."

Sabor turned to her liege, "Kerchak wouldn't tell us where the heart is either way, though." She leaned down, ready to leap out of their hiding spot, "I've fought him before, and I can tell he won't give away what you're looking for even if it was at the cost of his life. Threatening his family would just make him more determined to not tell us out of spite."

"No choice, then." He said and stood up, "I'll take the answers out of him first by force. He can hate me if he wants to."

Demona smiled slyly, "And I thought you were a goody two shoes."

He told her and the others, "I came here to make sure no one can touch this heart's world one way or another, not to get popular."

"Though doing so with your power instead of pretty words will make less people oppose you." La informed him with a smile.

"So long as he doesn't get sloppy." Demona added.

Sabor's tail wiggled in anticipation, "Who do I strike, my liege?"

"Leave Kerchak to me." he told them, "No use proving I'm the king if I can't beat another on my own."

Demona agreed, "A king has an army, but he shouldn't rely on them and get sloppy."

"I won't let you girls do all the work, I'm not that lazy." He told her and jumped out.

The girls watched as the gorillas scattered in his presence, and heard the heavy steps of the massive leader. Kerchak narrowed his eyes at the blond boy and bared his teeth. Naruto stepped forward and summoned his Keyblade. Upon seeing the weapon, the gorilla roared and punched his chest before charging at the boy. Seeing the size difference Naruto felt an odd sense of déjà vu from when he met Beast in his castle.

Bringing his large fists up and swinging them down like two heavy hammers, Kerchak hit the ground hard enough to leave a mark. The future dark king jumped over the strike and slashed at the gorilla's back. Kerchak growled from the wound as he staggered a bit. The blond hit the ground behind him and held his sword in front of his face like a kunai, with an inverted grip and the blade parallel to the ground.

"My liege wishes to know where the heart of this world is." Sabor told the gorilla, who glared at her and the others watching the battle while the other gorillas ran away, "If you value your family's life, tell him."

Kerchak raced at the blond, who as a shinobi that was proficient in close quarter combat saw it coming. Ducking under the large ape's swing was easy, and with the gorilla's guard lowered he was able to kick him on the chest with a solid kick that sent him back. Growling in pain after his back hit a tree, Kerchak tried to fight again only to find Naruto's incomplete Keyblade's tip inches from his neck and the boy staring at him.

"Interesting… I feel much stronger than when I fought Sabor." He clenched a hand, smirking a bit as he could feel a new strength growing inside him.

La smiled as she approached him, "I don't know the reason, but maybe you've become more in tune with your inner darkness through our hearts being bound to yours, my lord."

Her magic kept Kerchak locked in place while the others approached and kept the gorillas at bay so Sabor could question him, "To tell you of that place would be a fate worse than death."

"My liege, as I told you, he'd prefer death." The leopard told him, claws ready.

Naruto kneeled down to be on eye level with Kerchak, "Then listen closely, and don't be an idiot." He glared at the gorilla to let him know that there would be no changing his mind either, "What if you drop the act of being a tough guy? This world, your family, and everyone in it can live in peace if you tell me. However, I don't have the time to wait."

Sabor translated for him, and Kerchak replied without fear, "Then wait for all eternity, for I won't-"

A shadow flew past them, and Naruto reacted quickly when seeing it move. He gripped his Keyblade with both hands and swung it, splitting a spear in two. It was a simple weapon made with a long stick and carved stone. However, the one who had used it was very unusual. Clad in only a brown loincloth with wild brown hair and a muscular but lean body, a human man narrowed his eyes at the blond.

"And you are…?" La asked dully.

The stranger threw himself at them, grabbing a vine to swing down and use the momentum to launch his body for a strong kick to Naruto. The boy ducked under the strike and saw the man kick a tree, bounce off it and give chase. It would have been amazing if La's magic hadn't blasted him to the ground, chaining him to the ground by making the tree's roots coil around his wrists like shackles.

Demona grew irritated, "Is there anyone else who'd like to play hero?" she asked and approached the man with her claws out.

"Leave him alone!" Kerchak exclaimed.

Confusion settled on everyone's face, except for Sabor's, "Ah yes, this is the human cub your mate cherishes so much…" she crawled to him and smirked, "Do you know who I am?"

The man growled and tried to break free to no avail.

"Kerchak! What's it going to be? Will you not attempt to make peace for your people?! See reason! I will not harm this world, but if you don't tell me where the Heart is…" Naruto trailed off warningly, the gorilla huffed furiously, eyes shooting to the repentant man then to Naruto, whose eyes grew colder but also showed a good deal of pleading.

He grunted and snarled something, Sabor translating for him as she got away from Tarzan, "He says it's near the nesting grounds. In the waterfall. He will show you to it, but he will not forget this."

Naruto closed his eyes painfully, before opening them, their gaze hardening after a twig had snapped behind them. Everyone slowly turned to face someone who had been following them from the start.

He pointed his Keyblade at the man, "Why are you here Clayton?"

His question wasn't answered, something about the man showed a complete lack of cognizant awareness, but Naruto recognized the look in his eyes. A blank and foreboding stare, one of immense greed and hatred. Naruto was already moving when he slowly raised his hunting rifle and aimed it right at Naruto. One hand grabbed Clayton's arm and shoved it to the side, making the shot go wide while Demona shrieked in rage, her chilling cry heralding the gargoyle rushing down Clayton.

"You dare aim at him!? AT ME!?" She was a practiced fighter, and relied on brute force and raw speed to take her opponents apart.

It was more than enough as Queen La instantly threw up a barrier to block off Kerchak and the gorillas from the fight that was about to happen, "Stay back! Let our king fight… He will show you and this world why he is most fit to rule." Queen La declared with a commanding voice, her staff slamming into the ground and creating a cone of force that blew Clayton off his feet.

He silently got back up, a dark aura covering his body as he raised his head again. The Heartless symbol flashed above his body, before something invisible snatched him up and onto its back.

"Another world, but the same kind of selfish bastard." Naruto remarked with a growingly embittered tone, even as he raised his Keyblade up, "Then again, right now I'm not one to talk."

Demona and Queen La took their places at his side, "What's the plan my king?" the sorceress asked him, aiming a dark glare that promised much suffering at the mad Clayton.

"Beat him senseless, remove this greedy jerk from my sight." Naruto listed in short order with a growl.

Demona took out the mace she had taken from Beast's Castle, while Queen La prepared to support Naruto and Demona with spell-craft. Sabor flexed her claws slowly, seeking to savor this kill. They didn't hesitate or wait for Clayton to make the first move. Naruto merely rushed forward, Demona flying off ahead and nailing what she believed was the head of the invisible Heartless he was riding upon.

By the way he shuddered and was knocked back, she hit her mark just fine. The man tried aiming right at Naruto, only to be blindsided when the young man shot into him as if fired from a cannonball, a burning green aura enveloping him like dark fire. The young king sucker punched the hunter hard enough to make his face turn to the side and spit out blood.

That blank stare faded just a second to reveal an expression of fear before it became the same blank glare full of hatred and anger. A mighty blow hit Naruto's body, the aura cushioning the strike and what should've been a mighty hit that near crippled him merely knocked him back a few feet.

"Your spell-work is amazing, La!" He admitted to her, making her smile.

Sabor leapt into the tree line above them, falling down like a comet with her claws ripping into the invisible Heartless' body once more. This time it shuddered and came into view, a large chameleon like Heartless with bright yellow eyes, and a monstrously long tongue was what Clayton was riding upon. While the leopard woman struggled to remain on its head while clawing at its face, Clayton was already lining his sights.

With her feline reflexes, she jumped back to the trees, hissing just as the pellets tore off its bark, "Your head will be a fine trophy along those gorillas…" Clayton grinned widely and wildly as his ride turned invisible. And, just to make things just harder, he leapt off into the trees too in order to take shots while his ride started roaming around.

"Can't you command this Heartless, boy?" Demona asked, angered that her enemy was out of her sight.

"What did you think I was doing when I aimed my Keyblade at him?" he asked tiredly, "It seems that since he made it, it's like a part of his heart."

Demona growled, "Then rip his heart out."

Hearing the enemy's footsteps, the group knew the Heartless was somewhere else now, but after a shot from above that they dodged by rolling away, their eyes were on Clayton. Now they didn't know where it was. Thinking quickly, La lifted her staff, summoning multiple lightning bolts that rained down around them, hitting every spot in the area, while just barely avoiding her allies. As her logic would have it, many of the lightning bolts struck the invisible being, as well as Clayton, who fell from the trees and into the forest ground with a thud and an exasperated groan.

With its cover blown, the Heartless was punched in the gut by Demona, whose strength lifted him in the air half a dozen feet. Using her sense of smell, Sabor was quick to leap on its belly and start biting furiously at it. While the Heartless struggled to get the leopard woman off it and the gargoyle readied another punch, Naruto readied himself to attack as well, but stopped when he noticed how tired La was.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm not used to that spell. Don't worry, I'll be fine." she said with a sweet smile at his gesture. But just after she said this, Sabor was thrown onto her by the angry Heartless, crushing the sorceress.

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled to where he thought the invisible was, for it was once again invisible, "We have to make it show itself…"

Demona landed by his side while La began using her healing spells on herself and the injured leopard woman, "Keep moving, boy. The foolish hunter is still aiming at our heads."

Naruto stared around, listening carefully for any sound of movement. However, the Heartless was so quiet it was able to sneak up behind both and flick them into a tree. The Stealth Sneak prepared to strike Naruto with its large foot. Sabor, thinking fast once healed, jumped at it and threw a sharp flying kick at the chameleon's eye, which at least managed to distract it from Naruto, though now it was after her.

The chameleon Heartless charged at the leopard woman, and would have squashed her if not for La using her magic to make a barrier that kept its foot away from the female leopard. Smirking, La moved the green energy and fully captured the Stealth Sneak in a magical cocoon. The Heartless was held back due to the ground by the green magic energy, and Naruto, Demona and Sabor took their chance to attack it.

"Annoying little brat!" Clayton growled and took aim.

Just as Naruto was about to strike his Keyblade into Heartless' head, La, who had been struggling to hold down such a large and powerful creature, a gunshot echoed in the forest. The Heartless was free and it furiously swatted Naruto and Demona away while attacking Sabor by shooting rainbow colored beams from its eyes. Sabor panicked and ran away from the beam, which followed her around the trees, as another followed the Keyblade master… before both were shot down by them.

The boy grunted, but got up while pulling Sabor away from the monster, "La, what happened?" he turned to her for answers and gasped.

"I'll be fine, my lord." She was not.

La tried desperately to subdue the Heartless, but due to a large wound from a shotgun on her side she was having trouble healing herself properly with her magic, and now she also had to help Sabor. Angry, Demona jumped and slashed the chameleon's tail with her claws, and due to the surprising power of his arms and sharpness of her claws, the monster's tail was cut clean off. It landed on the floor before vanishing into darkness. The heartless shrieked in agony at the loss of its tail and angrily turned towards the furious gargoyle whose eyes turned red.

The red-haired woman simply stood in place; she was too furious to think straight and thus lunged at it. And thus, in her moment of anger, the Heartless slammed its hand on the gargoyle, creating a large crater where the now badly bruised woman was. La frantically tried to heal her and herself with her magic, though this exhausted the sorceress. The Heartless turned to Naruto with a hungry look in its eye while the boy was trying to stay on his feet, grunting at the pain on his back from the beam that magic projectile.

Naruto clenched his jaw before raising the Keyblade and yelling, "I won't sell my heart cheap, you know!"

But he soon heard the laugh of the mad hunter, "Ha ha ha ha ha, don't you see yet? You've lost! Your friends are going to die, you are just sitting ducks now!" Clayton taunted him.

Naruto stared at his comrades. Sabor had barely regained consciousness, but was in bad shape just like him. La also looked very weak due to the great amount of energy she had used to close her wound while in pain from it. Demona was still badly injured from earlier, and was desperately trying to get up with her wings bent in bad ways. The young king let out a guttural angry growl at the sight of his allies.

"Naruto…" he heard a familiar voice in his head, "I know you care for them, love them… I'll give you some of my power to help them, to stop this rotten rat from harming another!"

"You'll soon join them in death, maybe I'll add your head with theirs to my living room!" Clayton said to Naruto, then looked at the kid with a mocking smile.

As the Heartless prepared to squash Naruto, something finally snapped inside him, "Oh really?" he chuckled. And, before Clayton could respond, Naruto dashed to his right… and sliced off the Stealth Sneak's right arm! And when everyone saw the now visible chameleon they turned to look at the blond and gasped in shock. Naruto's eyes, which once were blue, were now a dark amber color.

Kairi's voice echoed deep inside him, "I'll help you with my light, so use your darkness to make this monster regret being such an awful human being!"

Naruto chuckled at the Heartless, "Sorry, but you can't hide from me anymore." he said holding the Keyblade up. "I'm going to make sure everyone can see the beating I'll give you!" he shouted as he lunged at it. With its advantage useless, the Heartless couldn't dodge the powerful slashes from the blond, and every time it tried to attack the young former shinobi his attacks would either be deflected or avoided easily.

"Damn brat!" Clayton shouted as he jumped behind the boy and aimed his shotgun at the back of his head.

And then he was swatted away by a large furry arm, "Be gone!" Kerchak shouted as Naruto swung his sword down, cleaving through the Heartless diagonally as it who let out a final cry of pain, vanishing.

Clayton crashed against a tree with enough force to leave a mark in the bark, "Huff…" he breathed in painfully, his ribs broken.

He also noticed that, after shooting La, her barrier had been broken and the gorillas were ready to do some serious harm to him. He was also surrounded by everyone he and his Heartless injured, with Naruto aiming his Keyblade at his neck with the darkness from the Stealth Sneak being drained into it.

"I'm sure you know what we're thinking." He said menacingly.

Kerchak growled at the boy, "I didn't do this to help you, just to stop what I thought was the worse of two evils."

Sabor translated for Naruto, who chuckled, "That's a start, I guess."

"What do we do with him?" La asked and kicked the shotgun away from the hunter.

Naruto looked at the huntsman with an intense yet contained hatred, "Killing him would be too easy, and after what he did to you, I want him to suffer something far worse." He hefted his Keyblade on his shoulder, "I'll let you decide, La. If you can turn leopards into servants, what can you turn this guy into?"

La smirked and slammed her staff against Clayton's gut, making sure it hurt, "I got just the thing…"

A cloud of green smoke covered the huntsman, who cried and struggled to break free as his body grew smaller, bones and flesh twisting and ripping as he changed… into a rat. It even had the small mustache.

"Fitting, now he's prey." Naruto said as he picked up the rat Clayton and tossed him to the man that had come save Kerchak, "Toss him wherever you want."

The man caught it and nodded, and thus La asked, "What do you wish to do now, My Liege?"

Naruto smiled, "Now we get that heart."

Demona cackled at his words, "You waste no time O King. I love that about you. Business before pleasure."

"Is that a problem Demona?" He asked her with a chuckle.

She gave him a smirk, "I wouldn't be watching you with such great interest if you bored me."

"Well, I aim to impress when I can." He shrugged back, Demona placing a claw on his shoulder, gripping it firmly but not unkindly, "You've already impressed me more than once. Helping me find ways to conquer the accursed light, and being a companion on this long dark path I have found myself on. You're not like the wretched humans and spawn of the light, you're one of the Darkness."

That was the highest praise Demona could grant upon someone, to consider them like her, Naruto unaware of how much that praise meant to her, just gave her one of his usual grins.

"You're a great partner too Demona." He said, rolling his shoulders around slowly to get the soreness of the fight off them.

However, someone else had to say something, Kairi, "Naruto…" she sighed, feeling something strange inside her, "What just happened there? That rush was…"

"Incredible…" he whispered for her to hear.

She would've nodded if he could see her, "Indeed, and that scares me… If I help you like that again, we need to be careful."

"Thank you…" he said, smiling, "Thanks to all of you, girls. That'd have been rough if I didn't have you by me."

His followers felt something stir inside them, but Kairi's heart began beating.

Something was definitely going on, and it could be dangerous.

 **AS**

 **POWER**

 **GROWS**

 **AND**

 **ATTRACTS**

 **MORE**

 **POWER**

 **SO**

 **WILL**

 **YOUR**

 **LOVE**

 **FOR**

 **. . .**

 **XXXXXX**

And that's my rap!

I hope you like this chapter. I had trouble starting it, but I think it came out rather decently. I don't want to make Naruto unlikeable, but he will start to get more and more in touch with his dark side. Those of you who think he's being too nice or still has a heroic agenda… are right, I'll say so. But the story's still at the first 2 worlds, so be patient and see how things change.

Swordslinger out!


End file.
